Renegades – Auf eigene Faust (1989)

Renegades – Auf eigene Faust: Directed by Jack Sholder. With Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jami Gertz, Robert Knepper. An undercover cop forms an alliance with a Native American to help him hunt down the criminals who stole an ancient Lakota tribal lance.

“I canu0026#39;t understand why the cop drama/action film u0026#39;Renegadesu0026#39; has such a steady following (relegating it, of course, to cult status), although I can guess that itu0026#39;s familiar cast–Sutherland, Phillips, and Gertz–had much to do with it, because this is certainly one bland, if not condescending u0026quot;thriller.u0026quot; Kiefer Sutherland plays good cop and bad cop. Heu0026#39;s working undercover investigating a ruthless gang leader who is in cahoots with a dirty cop and brokers a deal with the gang leader on a jewel heist in exchange for giving up the copu0026#39;s name. But, the ruthless leader is of course, ruthlessly violent, and the heist goes seriously foul. When the leader decides to take with him a valuable Native American relic, killing one young manu0026#39;s brother in the action, Lou Diamond Phillips seeks revenge like a martial arts film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis movie is wholly unconvincing. You can figure it out almost immediately who the u0026quot;dirty copu0026quot; as it is done without any subtleties. The story lingers on far longer than it should, especially with all of the effects of car chases and explosions of a good (if not cheesy) action film, minus the need for all of it. With either Sutherlandu0026#39;s arrogant and seemingly out-of-place character or Phillipu0026#39;s u0026quot;spiritual-minedu0026quot; character-with-a-vengeance, this film probably wouldu0026#39;ve been much better, even if following more of a martial arts genre routine, with just the story of the Native American family seeking revenge on the drug dealer. There is something here that does not mesh between the two main leads. And Gertz is wasted altogether.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor a good 1980s cop thriller, look elsewhere.”