The New Jersey-born Wenk has in recent years become a specialist in perfunctory action reboots (“The Equalizer,” “The Mechanic,” “The Magnificent Seven”), while the Paris-based Besson is a more idiosyncratic purveyor of popcorn thrills who’s seldom been affiliated with anything quite this straightforwardly chest-thumping - though “American Renegades” is in Besson’s wheelhouse insofar as it contains a significant aquatic component. The screenplay is credited to Richard Wenk and Luc Besson, an odd combo. 21, though here as elsewhere, primary exposure will be as fodder for macho genre junkies in home formats. Still, it’s smoothed over to an extent by the sheer glossy expense of big if uninspired action-movie packaging. Having so far purportedly earned back just a tiny fraction of a budget said to be in the high eight figures, this tale of Navy SEALs seeking hidden Nazi gold during the Balkan Wars a quarter-century ago was a terrible idea on many levels. Release-delayed from the start, the international co-production offers a particularly dumb kind of gung-ho Ugly Americanism that would have seemed odd for a primarily European enterprise when filming started in early 2015 - and seems even more so given political shifts since. Those in need of a shot of testosterone for Christmas just might make do with “American Renegades,” though it’s unlikely this knucklehead adventure will do much better Stateside than in the various territories it’s played over the last 18 months.