Alex Cross

Year: 2012
Genre: Action
Director: Rob Cohen


Plot: Expert profiler Alex Cross matches wits with a sadistic killer, which eventually becomes personal.


The gist: This movie has one of, if not the worst taglines ever, and unfortunately the movie is pretty lame too, so much that only that tagline is worse than the film itself. So how did Rob Cohen, the guy who put Vin Diesel on the map screw this one up?

Well, it's not the plot, because that part is not too shabby. It's not the acting, because it's more or less decent. No, it's the execution of the script, and the script itself. Remember how the previous Alex Cross films starring Morgan Freeman were like? It was smart, thrilling and mysterious, like a good mystery novel should be. This film doesn't have any of that. It tries to be a good thriller, but the bad dialogue just won't let it.

On top of that, this film wastes the 'expert profiling skills' of Alex Cross after the first half and turns it into a revenge action flick, which would have been okay, if not for the bad camerawork (shaky and too close). And then there's the totally unnecessary subplot of co-worker relationships between Edward Burns and Rachel Nichols' characters, which didn't add anything to the film.

With a lack of surprises, bad cinematography and lame dialogue, this film wasted nearly every potential it had.


The good: Tyler Perry at least tries to make Alex Cross come off as a serious guy. It's unfortunate he doesn't have Freeman's charisma, because if he wasn't so chubby, he actually resembles him a little. But he's decent at least. Matthew Fox fares a bit better as the villain, but the bad lines he was given just stops short of making him memorable.

The bad: Rachel Nichols was totally wasted here. If she was written out of the film, it'd still be the same. Jean Reno was laughable in his role here. There is one scene where he walks Cross to a park outside to talk, then decides not to give him information, resulting in Cross leaving. Now wasn't that a waste of a scene? Add also the stuff above (bad camerawork, bad lines, bad subplots etc)


Verdict: It had every potential to be a solid thriller, but it fails to excite or intrigue. Pass on this if you see it. (2.5/5)