Renegades (1989)

Directed by Jack Sholder. Starring Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Bill Smitrovich, Robert Knepper, Jami Gertz, Floyd ‘Red Crow’ Westerman, Peter MacNeill, Clark Johnson. [R]

Undercover cop Sutherland and Native American Phillips team up to take down criminal scum and retrieve a tribal lance. It’s a stretch just to get to that premise (the thieves that Sutherland are after just randomly decide to steal the spear during their diamond heist getaway), and it coasts thin from there on out, relying on the polish of high-concept product to carry the characters from scene to scene. The stars are in respectable genre form and there’s some decent stuntwork on hand, but this is just the tired buddy action/comedy formula made without the freshness, sharp writing, electric chemistry or pulse-quickening excitement needed to elevate the material. The climax at the villain’s ranch, if you’re still awake by that point, is especially uninspired. Stick to the first Young Guns if you want to see Kiefer and Lou Diamond in action.

41/100