Alex Cross

Finally, a Tyler Perry movie that is actually funny. For those who don't know, however, Alex Cross is not meant to be a comedy. It's supposed to be a serious action/drama. With all of its cheesy moments, corny dialog, and doubtful plot points, Alex Cross misses entirely. Alex Cross stars Tyler Perry as an expert detective who is about to embark on his most difficult case. The case is to track down a deranged psycho-killer played by Matthew Fox. Matthew Fox enjoys torturing people to death and playing mind games with the detectives that are on his trail. I would like to say more about the plot of this movie but sadly, there isn't much more to tell. It's that basic. You'd think a plot where a genius detective is facing an intelligent serial killer would have more complexity, but it doesn't. There are a lot of problems with Alex Cross. For starters, the script may as well have been written by a thirteen year old. This is probably one of the worst scripts of the year. In order to buy this script, you just have to believe everything the characters say with no explanation. The character Alex Cross never proves that he's smart. The audience is just supposed to believe he's smart because other characters say so. Cross just throws out theories without backing them up and of course, they turn out to be right. For example, when Cross and his partner (Edward Burns) walk into the first handful of murders committed by Matthew Fox, Burns guesses that this must have been the work of multiple guys. Cross replies, "Nope. This was one guy." Does he bother to explain why he feels that way? Nope. In another example, Fox is on a train and Burns comes up to Cross and says, "You need to get in his head and think like him. If you were him, where would you be?" Cross thinks and then exclaims, "He's on a train!" Care to enlighten us on how you arrived to that realization Dr. Cross? The problem is, the writers clearly aren't smart enough to come up with ways for their characters to solve the case. Because this movie is so poorly written, it is unbelievably predictable. I'm no Alex Cross, but I knew exactly what was going to happen throughout the film. Literally, every scene can be predetermined by a first time viewer. Not only is there terrible writing, but there was also terrible directing. Matthew Fox and Edward Burns are both very good actors, but they can't do anything under poor direction. Everyone in this movie is horrendous except for one person and that's Tyler Perry. I found this very surprising because I can't stand Tyler Perry's work and I thought he would be the worst thing about the movie. However, he is the only thing that can be considered somewhat decent in the movie. You can tell Perry wants to branch out but unfortunately, he can only do the best with what he was given. There were so many bad decisions made by the director. For emotion, he tries to add some family value by adding in an old sassy black woman as character. Thankfully, this character was not played by Tyler Perry. Another terrible idea was to have the camera constantly shaking because that's an action movie cliché that everyone loves (sarcasm). The camera was shaking during the most still moments. For example, the camera was shaking ferociously when, I kid you not, a woman was typing on her computer. Perhaps one of the worst decisions from the director though, was to throw in a twist at the end. Not only did he add a twist, but he made it glaringly obvious. The only reason anyone might find Alex Cross appealing is because they get a kick out of watching bad movies or they really might enjoy seeing Tyler Perry try and do something different. Other than that, there is absolutely no reason to see this film. The acting is horrific, the dialog is idiotic, the action sequences are poorly choreographed, and the plot is 100% predictable. This movie is so bad, that you will find yourself laughing at moments when you're supposed to be either gasping or crying. D

This is a good movie. I think Tyler Perry put on a worth watching showpiece;a thriller indeed. If you're looking for a good one,this is it. Clearly showcases the prowess of James Patterson as an author.