Ros Knight suspects there is a mole in MI5. Her old-school estranged father Charles
would be shocked if there wasn’t yet another mole in MI5. He is a cynical old
goat, but he is the only person she can trust. That doesn’t make it any easier to
ask for his help in Ben Fortune’s Knightfall, which for some unfathomable
reason, the distributor decided to release on the 25th anniversary of
9/11.
Usually,
Knight is not assigned to field ops. However, her infectious disease specialization
makes her presence necessary on a mission to recover a strain of mega-super-deadly
bacteria. The commando team resents babysitting her, because they are either
chauvinist meatheads or her secret lover. That last one would be Hugh (no last name,
because he is a secret agent).
Of course,
the hand-off they try to intercept takes a disastrous turn. The bad guys are in
the wind with a briefcase full of demon-bacteria. However, Knight has the
presence of mind to grab the special key. Without the key, the case aerosols
the bacteria killing everyone around it. Only the team and their boss Julian
Pollard know Knight was the bug-chaser assigned to the op, so when assassins start
trying to kill her for the key, she and Hugh realize their much be a mole in
MI5—yet again.
Geoffrey
Moore (who previously co-starred in two of Andy Sidaris’ soft-core girls &
guns capers) resembles his famous father, Sir Roger, enough to work steadily in
low budget VOD movies, if he wanted to. He rarely has since the Sidaris movies,
but he rather surprisingly agreed to this one.
Regardless,
he has enough of the old man’s charm to convincingly portray suave Hugh. He is one
of the two things Knightfall has going for it. The other is Ian Ogilvy (recognizable
from Witchfinder General and dozens of U.S. and British TV shows), who
hams it up marvelously as crotchety old man Knight.
In
contrast, Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott (who is married to the producer Jonathan
Sothcott) completely lacks their presence and credibility. Honestly, listening
to her stumbling over her bacteriological exposition is rather painful. (And it
is almost condescending when she reminds her colleagues, in chess, the Queen is
more powerful than the knight. Wow, what a strategic thinker.)
These retired mercs fancy themselves the old-timer version of “The Wild Geese,”
which is saying something, considering how haggard the hard-living Richard Burton
and Richard Harris looked in that 1978 movie. The crusty old Londoners are
probably twenty years older, but they look healthier. That is fortunate,
because they will have some work cut out for them in Daniel Zirilli’s Renegades,
which releases tomorrow on VOD.
Maj.
Carver just moved his former subordinate Burton off the streets and into his
home, because the veteran officer never leaves one of his men behind. Carver is
pretty American-sounding, but his daughter is all British. Judy Carver was even
elected a local councilor. In representing her district, she made trouble with
the cops for Anthony Goram’ criminal outfit. Carver intended to warn off the
interloping foreign (from parts undefined) gangster, but his thugs killed the
Major instead.
Obviously,
Burton and Carver’s old comrades (and fellow support group members) Peck,
Woody, and Harris do not take kindly to that, so they round up all the weapons they
can scrounge (including a crossbow) to take the fight to Goram. They do a
pretty good job of it, especially since Inspector Moore (who is investigating
their mayhem) has to call in favors from her CIA contact (a cameo appearance
for Michael Pare) to figure out what is going on.
That
is pretty much all there is to Renegades, which wouldn’t be so bad, if
Zirilli’s direction were smoother. His strictly dramatic scenes have an awkwardness
that must embarrass his experienced cast, especially the great Lee Majors, who
brings a gravitas to the film that it doesn’t deserve, as the Major. As Judy
Carver, Patsy Kensit (from Lethal Weapon 2 and Angels and Insects)
is stuck in several dull scenes opposite Nick Moran’s impassive Burton that must
have been a chore for them to plod through.
