Alex Cross is the type of ridiculous thriller that makes you wonder just how on earth it actually got made. Popularity of the source material is the only logical explanation. Now the third big-screen portrayal of the James Patterson literary character, previously played by Morgan Freeman in both Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, the film follows the titular character (Tyler Perry), a detective and psychologist who uses his intelligence as much as his brawn to hunt down the bad guys. One day he comes up against a sadistic assassin nicknamed Picasso (Matthew Fox) who seems to be utterly fascinated by the pain he inflicts upon his victims.
The problems with the film are plentiful but ultimately fall at the feet of a spectacularly inept, cliched script (co-written by Marc Moss, who also wrote Along Came a Spider) that seems to speak in generic police language and hammy threats delivered over the phone. Piling one ridiculous set piece on top of another, the film is shamefully derivative of a thousand cop movies and TV shows, showing no flair or invention and not even providing the base thrills of the genre.
In a role originally meant for Idris Elba, Tyler Perry (yes, him of Madea fame) is as wooden as a table leg trying to deliver these big emotional scenes and not much better when lumbering around holding a shotgun and repeating lines like “Is this how you want to die?” to whatever bad guy he happens to be chasing through seemingly endless abandoned buildings and car parks. Scenes of Cross and his partner (played by Edward Burns) chit-chatting in their car between action scenes just doesn’t ring true and it doesn’t help that the recent End of Watch takes the top prize for believable cop partnership. Needless to say this pales in comparison.
Matthew Fox, still probably most famous for playing Jack in the TV show Lost, gets to have a lot of fun playing against type as methodical, ruthless assassin but the trouble is not with his performance but rather the way the character itself is written. With his shaved head, ripped body and tattoos he plays like a knock-off of far better, more naturally intimidating villains – John Doe from Se7en springs to mind – although when everything else is so uninspired he is easily the most enjoyable part of the movie.
The forced emotion and bad dialogue might have been forgiven had the film been up-to-scratch in the action or mystery department. But thanks to artless direction from Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious) – who mistakes shaky cam for frenetic, exciting action (Taken 2 proved it really, really isn’t the same thing) – the film is as boring in its action as it is predictable in its mystery. It provides none of the fun a good thriller should do.
I’ve never read the series of books by James Patterson which the film is based on but I can’t imagine die hard fans will be happy with the way it’s been translated to the big-screen on this occasion. What should have been a taut, fascinating thriller, especially given the potentially interesting villain dynamic of someone who is obsessed with inflicting pure pain, is instead an inept, often unintentionally laughable experience. A subplot about Cross having a third baby is shoehorned in to give him an emotional reason to hunt the assassin down and is an exemplar of just how heavy-handed and ridiculous this thriller is, straining credibility more than the most elaborate sci-fi blockbuster. At least that sort of thing isn’t pretending to be realistic.
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