Full Eclipse

Mario Van Peebles plays Max Dire, a cop going through some rough times. He's seen some weird and supposedly tragic things happen to his partner Jim (Tony Denison), and of course his marriage is on the rocks as well. Then a fellow cop named Garou (Bruce Payne) who heads a "special squad" goes about trying to induct Max into his team. They're supposedly dedicated to wiping out crime, but in truth they're not much better than the bad guys on the streets.

If you get a kick out of genre crossovers, this action-cop-melodrama-horror flick may provide you with enough amusement. Overall, it's pretty standard - the writing, the acting, the effects, etc. Still, its central hook is enough of a hoot to reel in the viewer, and the filmmakers try to draw parallels between the actions of the special squad and drug addiction (these guys and gals regularly inject themselves with something that gives them superhuman abilities). But at least it gives a little fresh life to the ultra-predictable "dead partner" trope.

Van Peebles has some good chemistry with the smouldering Patsy Kensit, as a member of Paynes' team. He himself does an okay job, but it's Payne, an actor who's typically specialized in villain roles, who dominates much of the film. It IS fun to see him and Kensit play Americans; for the most part, they are able to suppress their natural accents. And there's a steady stream of familiar faces in the supporting cast: Jason Beghe ("Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear"), Paula Marshall ("Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth"), Dean Norris ('Breaking Bad'), Willie C. Carpenter ("Hard Target"), Victoria Rowell ('The Young and the Restless'), Scott Paulin ("Teen Wolf"), and Mel Winkler ("Devil in a Blue Dress").

This is preposterous stuff, but it's slickly made (genre veteran Anthony Hickox ("Waxwork" and its sequel, etc.) is the director), and reasonably paced, wrapping up in a fairly trim 98 minutes, and it includes enough sex and violence to hold the attention of its audience.

Six out of 10.

Let's face it this is a bad movie. It has a TV-movie average budget and an average b-list cast. But it keeps the pace up throughout most of the movie, yes a bit slow in places but if you like cheesy aging actions you will probably go in for Full Eclipse.

If you want something just a little better try *One tough Bastard*. It doesn't have werewolves, the main actor is torture and the child's character is dumb as a fence post but Bruce Paine as the villain saves it with some of the best one liners you are likely to get in an action movie - much better than any of the Die-hard sequels anyway! Plus it scores about .4 points better than Full Eclipse. You can't lose!

Full Eclipse was a cool werewolf film. It had it all. Action, romance, sex, violence, and cool special effects. Mario Van Peebles is great as Max Dire, the cop who becomes involved with a top secret group of werewolf cops led by Bruce Payne. He is lured into joining by the sexy Patsy Kensit. She is the real reason why I love this film so much. She is so fine, and she is also a good actor. The love scene between her and Mario is the best one I have ever seen in on film. The film is loosely inspired by X-Men, as director Anthony Hickox once said in an interview. With Wolverine type claws, the werewolves take on gangs and other bad guys. I recommend it to werewolf fans.

This is a great movie!!! Quite possibly one of the coolest werewolf movies I've ever seen. First off the action sequences are incredible, John Woo had a major influence on the style of this film. There's jumping with guns'a'blazing, cool slow motion shots, and to top it off...WEREWOLVES!!! The performances couldn't be better, Mario Van Peebles is extremely underrated and Bruce Payne is the quintessential bad guy. The only thing that holds this movie back from true cinematic greatness is probably the fact that is a made for T.V. movie and had to be edited and the budget was not as high as the concept...great concept though!!! This movie is Shaft meets The Howling, throw in Hong Kong-flavored action and you've got Full Eclipse. Coolest Werewolf movie around.

This action-packed thriller is more of a twist on the traditional LAPD action movie rather than a twist on the werewolf movie. It's starts off with two cops, Max Dire and his partner, and his partner is telling him how he's going to quit the force and get married. And he gets shot in the first ten minutes. Also, Max himself has a troubled marriage. But just as I was about to sit back and let ninety minutes of cop movie clichés wash over me, the movie goes in several new and interesting directions ... it's not great, but it definitely kept me entertained.

It comes from director Anthony Hickox, who's first movie was Waxwork in 1988 (which also featured werewolves), and he does a particularly good job here at emulating John Woo -- the action sequences are very exciting, adrenaline-fueled affairs and in the other scenes there are plenty of close ups and interesting sound effects to set the mood of the movie. Mario Van Peebles does his usual action hero thing with great flare, and Bruce Payne makes an excellent villain as Mr A Garou (Garou is French for werewolf, see -- pretty much the only high-brow werewolf reference in the movie). All in all, the directing is expertly done, the script is decent enough and the acting is competent.

But as a movie, it has it's problems. It doesn't really pick up it's pace until the the second half, when Max Dire becomes one of the pack, and that's when things really start to get interesting. The characters aren't really that likable or original, although the cast on the whole do their best. But as a pilot for a TV series, it almost works, and that's what I initially presumed this was. Or perhaps it just sets itself up for future movies. Who knows. If it was intended as a pilot, that kind of explains why the first forty minutes of the movie are so dull.

In conclusion, it's a fairly entertaining movie elevated by some great directing, but the storyline could definitely have used a bit more work. If you're in the mood for a decent action movie, this is one that I might recommend.