Review of Along Came a Spider (2001) by Marty H — 16 Jul 2013

Shame on everyone involved in the release of the recent "Alex Cross" Hollywood film for thinking Tyler Perry could fill the shoes of Morgan Freeman. Freeman's Alex Cross character is witty, intelligent, patient, and also sometimes wrong. In one of the beginning scenes after Cross tragically lost his female partner in an accident, he explains to Anna Maria Horsford, (maybe his wife??), that one can never forgive himself. The look she gives him was one of pity and sorrow. The Tyler Perry-Alex Cross knows everything and is never wrong. Give him big guns, fast cars, and all the clout with the entire police department and he always wins. Isn't that what we all want to see nowadays?

This film was desperately missing Ashley Judd. She was alongside Freeman in the first installment, Kiss the Girls. Monica Potter becomes Freeman's new "partner" in Along Came a Spider. She is dull, monotone, and unimpressive in the film's climatic moments. Micheal Wincott is Gary Sonji, the typical psychopath killer and admirer of Alex Cross and all of his work. In all three movies in the franchise, the antagonist is somewhat of an understudy of Cross, someone who knows his every move, read his books, and mimics his style. A better movie would have gotten more creative with this character and not submitted to the same played out techniques. A better script would not have allowed for Cross to hack into the killer's apartment through the school computer through a hidden camera, (what??!?).

Fortunately for us, Morgan Freeman plays the role of detective as if he was born to do it. It is truly a pleasure to watch him work in this movie.

I admired the work of the supporting cast in this film except for the lame duck Monica Potter. Michael Wincott, Dylan Baker, and Mika Boorem receive honorable mention from me.

So in conclusion, Along Came a Spider is a good bad movie and Tyler Perry is a moron.

3/5.