(Photo courtesy of Summit Entertainment)Pitchforks: 2/5
Released: Oct. 19
Starring: Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox
Rating: PG-13
After watching “Alex Cross,” there's a certain f-word that comes to mind: forgettable. Nothing about this film stands out. But, a better word that comes to mind is “meh.” No other word can describe this movie better than “meh.” It isn’t horrible, but it’s not great either. The movie lacks excitement. A boring action thriller is worst than a cardinal sin — it’s unforgivable.
Casting Tyler Perry as Alex Cross is an odd choice. When most people think of Perry, they imagine him wearing a fat suit as he promotes family and religious values through his poorly written comedies. In these comedies, Perry plays Madea, an old lady with attitude. Anyone familiar with Perry’s work will have a hard time accepting him as the lead role in “Alex Cross.” Even though Perry gave his best shot, the role begged for a better actor.
This isn’t the first movie to feature this character. Two other movies, “Kiss the Girls” and “Along Came a Spider” feature Alex Cross as the main character. In both films, Morgan Freeman portrays Alex Cross. Perry can’t compete with Freeman. That is like a fight between an ant and a foot. The role of Alex Cross needs the acting expertise of Freeman, but sadly got Perry instead.
The villain of the movie, an insane serial killer named Picasso, is played by Matthew Fox from the TV show “Lost." Fox’s talent is wasted on this film. The lines that are given to him are lackluster, but somehow he still plays the role gracefully. If only everyone else in this movie did the same, then maybe it would have been decent.
The worst part of “Alex Cross” is its lack of exposition. Who is Alex Cross? The movie never tells you. He has almost superhuman deduction abilities (like Sherlock Holmes, times a thousand) and the audience is never clued in on how he has this ability, it’s just accepted. The only information that is given on the character is that he is a doctor. Does being a doctor give a person superhuman abilities to solve crimes? No, it doesn’t.
The plot in “Alex Cross” is ridiculous. Things just happen at times without pertaining to logic or reason. There is a scene where Picasso is trying to break into a high-security building (so the movie can have an action scene) and he gets in through a water tube. Yes, through a water tube. Anyone who has watched “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” will have the good idea on how the water tube looks in “Alex Cross” from the scene where Augustus falls into the chocolate river. There is another scene where Picasso hijacks a train, hacks the train’s mainframe, opens the doors, shoots a rocket that disperses green gas, which catches fire and blows up a building. There is no explanation on how Picasso has the capability to do all this, it just happens.
Coming across “Alex Cross” is not a pleasant experience. Not due to the quality of the film, even though it is quite a mundane and nonsensical film, but with the realization that people can receive better quality entertainment at home. With shows like “The Wire,” “Law & Order,” “CSI: Miami” and even “Dexter,” there is no reason to go to see this film. The first episode of “Dexter” had more action in one hour than “Alex Cross” did in two. With prices of movie tickets being what they are, there is no reason to go see this movie. Go watch cable television instead.
Reach the reporter at tverti@asu.edu
