Black Moon Rising

Based on a story by John Carpenter, Black Moon Rising follows expert thief Sam Quint (Tommy Lee Jones) as he’s hired to steal a key piece of evidence for the FBI – with Sam’s decision to hide said evidence in the body of an experimental vehicle backfiring disastrously after the car is stolen by a gang of criminals (led by Linda Hamilton’s Nina). The movie, which subsequently details Sam’s efforts at retrieving both the car and the evidence from a nefarious developer (Robert Vaughn’s Ryland), is generally far more engaging and compelling than one might’ve anticipated based on that well-worn setup, as filmmaker Harley Cokeliss, working from Desmond Nakano, William Gray, and Carpenter’s screenplay, delivers a briskly-paced thriller that benefits substantially from Jones’ fun, wisecracking turn as the agreeable protagonist – with the actor’s ingratiating efforts undoubtedly matched by an eclectic supporting cast that includes Hamilton and Vaughn. (The latter’s mustache-twirling work here remains an obvious and ongoing highlight, to be sure.) And although the narrative is admittedly riddled with less-than-captivating spots, Black Moon Rising has been suffused with a number of unexpectedly engrossing interludes that effectively sustain the viewer’s interest on a continuing basis. (The entire heist-based climax, for example, is much more entertaining than one might’ve anticipated.) The end result is a better-than-average 1980s action thriller that’ll surely thrill fans of such fare, which is no small feat, certainly, given that the picture admittedly does boast a rather palpably low-rent (and often downright campy) atmosphere.

*** out of ****