WebVideo Throwback to Old-School Sci-fi
I hesitated to watch "Renegades" for a few reasons: the infamously low budget, the fact that it isn't "canon," and the fact that none of the returning characters were on my list of favorites. When I finally did give it a shot though, I found that I loved it for exactly these reasons, as well as many others.
The budget is low, but no worse than a Scyfy Original movie's. Bad CGI notwithstanding, it's the good kind of low budget; "Renegades" has that unique look that many lower budget films have with their sets and costumes—fun to took at, and much more of a feeling of actually being "there."
The returning characters are used well. Icheb and Tuvok, who I always found quite bland, have both taken some interestingly dark turns between "Voyager" and this new adventure. Many of the new characters are even more intriguing. We meet an Andorian hacker, a Romulan bodyguard, a master of holo-disguise, a snarky Betazoid, and the outcast daughter of Khan.
The plot is cliché, but serves as a fine vehicle for what really makes "Renegades," the characters and the visuals. It's thrilling to finally get a cast of characters in the rich "Star Trek" universe who aren't bound by Starfleet regulations, and a captain who isn't another average-Earth-joe. The fact that this series isn't "canon" takes a lot of pressure off, so anything you dislike or have a hard time believing can be shrugged off as it can with the Relaunch Novels (which "Renegades" is disregarding).
Flaws include some not-so-good acting from a few performers, and an air of camp, neither of which is unusual for "Star Trek." Hell they're practically requirements. At this point my only real complaint is how long it's taking for episodes 2&3 to come out. With the actors of Chakotay, Jake Sisko, Nog, Molly O'Brian, and Jadzia Dax onboard, I'm going nuts waiting to see how "Renegades" will utilize their characters, and how the new ones we've met will develop.
WebVideo It's like Enterprise as done by Roger Corman
First off, I must note that I was really excited for this project. More Trek that doesn't involve Abrams? Tuvok AND Chekov AND the holodoc? By the guys who did the cheap but well-acted Of Gods And Men? Sign me right up!
I saw it the day it was posted on YouTube, and...I have never been so disappointed in my life.
The production values are right out of a SyFy B-movie. The protagonist is an irritating, arrogant Mary Sue and a Smug Snake. It's telling that I wanted the Nausicaan guy to shoot her and kill her in the scene where she retakes command of her ship; if I hate a main character before 30 minutes are up, then that character is Neelix-level annoying.
The plot makes no sense; some beast-men guys who live in caves are using a space magic thing to make random planets vanish, and they want to kill Earth for some reason. To stop the generic bad guys I couldn't care less about, Admiral Tuvok must hire a gang of crooks and thugs to go on a covert mission—because apparently everybody's forgotten Starfleet Intelligence and Section 31, who could've done the same job a lot more intelligently.
Everybody loves Our Heroine, except for the Lawful Stupid Federation captain, who's more obsessed with catching these crooks than saving Earth; honestly, I kind of sympathize with the guy. He's a jerk, but these losers ripped him off twice and were massive smug bastards about it, too.
And then Grant Imahara is a space cloud guy.
The protagonists essentially bumble their way through the plot. The makeup and costuming really shows the low budget. The lighting is atrocious, there are way too many close-ups done without regard for the plot or pacing, the script is eye-rollingly bad, and the vast majority of the actors are alternately flat or massive hams.
Good parts (yes, there are several): —Tuvok has balls of titanium and Russ's acting is capable as usual. —Robert Picardo steals every scene he's in; then again, that isn't hard. —Walter Koenig, yay! And he manages to convincingly portray a loving great-grandparent despite the actress playing his descendant being flatter than Kansas. Kudos, man.
Final score: 2/10. It's like JJ Trek, but with lower production values.