Advertisement

Movies & TV Movies & TV Reviews

Alex Cross

ALEX CROSS directed by Rob Cohen, written by Marc Moss and Kerry Williamson based on James Patterson’s novel (see Interview with author James Patterson), with Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox, Rachel Nichols and Jean Reno. An eOne Films release. 101 minutes. Opens Friday (October 19). See times. Rating: NN


Alex Cross is designed to reboot James Patterson’s genius FBI profiler, previously played by Morgan Freeman in Kiss The Girls and Along Came A Spider, as a younger, more action-oriented character, the way The Sum Of All Fears replaced Harrison Ford with Ben Affleck as Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.

To that end, Alex Cross casts Tyler Perry in an origin story with Cross as a Detroit homicide cop with a flair for getting into the heads of serial killers – a gamble that’s intriguing, to say the least. But Perry simply isn’t up to the challenge, and it feels like director Cohen (who made Vin Diesel seem complicated in The Fast And The Furious) figured that out well before shooting started. I’ve never seen a movie so eager to cut away from its leading man.

Unfortunately, that means spending more time with a pop-eyed, emaciated Matthew Fox as Cross’s nemesis, a sadistic assassin who starts hunting our hero and his sidekicks after their paths collide on a murder investigation. Ever a pro, Cohen orchestrates a couple of energetic set pieces, but the whole thing feels doomed from the start.

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted