This is a spoiler free review.
“Always be true to yourself and the rest will follow.”
–Pavel Chekov
The full cast and crew can be found here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2621446/fullcredits/
The website can be found here: http://startrekrenegades.com/home/
I have seen the trailers and although they looked amazing, I
was very wary of Adrienne Wilkinson’s acting. She seemed to overact in all the
trailers. It was a very pleasant surprise that watching those scenes in context
her acting is very strong and powerful, not over the top. Manu Intiraymi reprises his role as Icheb,
and he has been through some things. I
did not always enjoy Voyager, but I really always liked the character Icheb.
Manu Intiraymi flawlessly slips back into his old role. I don’t want to give away too much, but he
appears to have had some upgrades. There were several cameos Trek fans will
enjoy including Gary Graham as Ragnar, the shape shifter first seen in Of Gods
and Men. Another cameo of note was Clint Carmichael who played a Nausicaan in
the TNG episode Tapestry. He again plays a Nausicaan, Moordenaarr, in Renegades. It was actually a nice moment when I
remembered him from his previous character. There are a few established
Hollywood actors in the movie as well. Edward Furlong is excellent as Fixer,
the mechanic. All I could think while
watching him was how much he reminded me of Kaylee from Firefly (which is
fitting since the Icarus is the same set as Serenity). I really would have liked to have seen more
of the character on screen. The entire cast delivered a powerful performance. One
nitpicky question I had was, were Sean Young’s Dr. Lucien’s glasses an
affectation, like Picard’s books or an anachronism? Either way, as a glasses wearer who will
never get LASIK or wear contacts, I thought they looked cool.
The special effects are outstanding.
There are plenty of well done space battles. The CGI on Icheb’s tech is
incredible. Looking at the special
effects it is hard to believe this was done on a small budget. A scene I especially liked was seeing Icheb’s
hands take on what I can only describe as a Green Lanternish effect during a
climatic fight scene. The only thing I
thought was, although the makeup is relatively flawless, some of the masks are
incredibly rubber looking. One more
brief thought on the makeup is that Larissa Gomes plays T’leah a Romulan, and based on
her makeup, her race had to be pointed out to me. It isn’t poorly done, but I did not recognize
her as a Romulan.
This movie was done by the same team that brought us Of Gods
and Men. They stay true to the feel of
Star Trek, but this definitely doesn’t have the heart that Of Gods and Men
had. This movie is decidedly darker
toned, which is not a bad thing. There was a blink and you miss it tribute to
Leonard Nimoy that was added post production that will resonate well with fans.
I think that as of today the future of Renegades is up in the air. Will it be a
TV show, a web series, or a stand-alone film? As a show pilot, it works, as a
fan film, it lacks something. As a stand-alone TV movie it has potential. You can tell that the production team put a
lot of hard work into Renegades.
The story is excellent.
Who are these so called Renegades? Who has infiltrated Starfleet? Who is
Lexxa Singh? What is Sean Young’s Dr. Lucien hiding? What does Fixer finally
understand? What will be the fate of
Admiral Paris? It seems that the main suppliers of dilithium crystals are
getting harder to find. Planets are being engulfed with a mysterious energy
that cuts them off from the rest of the universe. Will the Renegades accomplish their secret
mission or will Starfleet be torn apart?
Will Earth be destroyed by an evil the likes of which we have never seen
before? Who can you trust when anyone could be a double agent?
As I said, this movie does have a very dark tone. It almost
has the same dark tone as Nemesis. There
are some violent scenes and implied sexual violence against one character. I would use discretion when allowing young
children to watch this movie. This movie
only gets 7 out of 10 stars from me. It
was good, not mind blowing. Definitely see it if you get the chance because it
is good, and fan films need our support.
This movie is far better than anything from JJ Abrams.
And to the production crew, I am but a humble blogger but if
there is ever anything I can do, I am a fangirl. It has been my lifelong dream
to contribute to my favorite fandom. I would love to contribute in any way I
could to this or any future projects, as most fans would.
After watching Renegades a second time, I had a little more to say about it.
