Review of Alex Cross (2012) by Danny S — 28 Dec 2012

I should start out by stating that I am a fan of the James Patterson novels and was full of anticipated dread when I saw a TV ad for this film. It stars Tyler Perry as the title character, with a menacingly evil Matthew Fox (from TV's Lost) as the villain. The TV ad made this film look explosive and trashy, not intellectual and darkly thrilling, like the books. This is the third screen outing for Dr Cross, the previous two films staring Morgan Freeman.

I particularly enjoyed the first of those films, Kiss The Girls. It was a taught, dark, atmospheric thriller with lashings of suspense thrown in for good measure. The only problem with those films was with the casting of Mr Freeman (apparently, no relation to Martin Freeman). Alex Cross was described in the novels as a man in his physical prime and a single father of 2 small children. When reading the novels, one pictures a young Denzel Washington or maybe Will Smith (when he was Ali). None of these characteristics made it into the Morgan Freeman films, making his character completely different from the books. That having been said, they were good thrillers!

Tyler Perry fits the bill regarding the literary Dr Cross (he is a psychiatrist as well as a homicide detective), including in this film his children and his elderly grandmother, who is the matriarch of their house. The action has been relocated from Washington to Detroit (with no explanation whatsoever) and Cross's childhood friend and police partner has changed from black to white. Overall, this is the Alex Cross of the novels and Tyler Perry does a good job with a limited script and clunky story.

This film is based on the novel "Cross" and a sequel is already being planned, based on the follow-up novel "Double Cross". The action sequences are lacking in emotion, leaving the audience feeling detached from what is going on. The plot doesn't make a whole lot of sense, though the two leads do give it their all. Despite this, I think there could be promise of the sequel learning from the mistakes of this film.

Overall, a clumsy action-thriller that doesn't quite thrill and is too brightly-lit to be dark and brooding.