Your appreciation of Alex Cross very much depends upon your
level of expectation going in. Based on ‘Cross’, the 12th novel in
James Patterson’s detective series, Alex Cross stars Tyler Perry and Lost’s
Matthew Fox as the serial killer Picasso. Cross finds himself up against a true
master of evasion when he starts to investigate a string of sadistic murders,
putting the life of his friends and family in the firing line.
Tyler Perry and Matthew Fox – both miscast – are left
stranded by a generic script that throws every crime thriller cliché at the TV
screen. Neither performance is particularly bad and Fox should be applauded for
channelling a lean, mean Christian Bale in fighting form, but you can’t help
think Alex Cross would have fared better in more assured hands. Lively
support is offered by Ed Burns and the gorgeous Rachel Nichols, both of whom
struggle to break free from the constraints of its crime thriller formula.
There’s plenty of bang for your buck and 101 minutes fly by but
it’s nothing that we haven’t seen before. Rob Cohen – known for lightweight
action fare – directs this kind of thing in his sleep and there’s a good chance
he did, particularly when it comes to the uninspired climax. When two great
minds come together in a dismal rooftop fight sequence you know that creation
has done one. Alex Cross has surface sheen but little depth, which means
kissing the girls and making them cry is the least of his worries. AW
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