Alex Cross: Movie Review
The saying is often true - "the book is much better than the movie".
Alex Cross features big name Hollywood stars such as Tyler Perry (Madea), Edward Burns (Saving Private Ryan), Matthew Fox (Lost) and Jean Reno.
Despite the hard work put in by the big name stars, the movie is disappointing with director Rob Cohen (xXx, Fast and Furious) failing to fix a number of script problems which distract heavily from the storyline.
James Patterson’s books are no stranger to the silver screen. Audiences seemed to be OK with adaptations of Kiss The Girls and Along Came A Spider, but with Alex Cross, a number of the scenes in the movie elicited laughter from the audience ... not on purpose, I might add.
Bad script lines aside, the movie tells the story of Dr. Alex Cross, who is offered a better paying and more stable job with the FBI. However, things take a turn when a serial killer starts to pick off his prey – consisting of members of a powerful corporation. Matthew Fox plays “Picasso” and the pure evil and violence that emanates from his character is a far cry from his more well-known character, Dr. Jack Shephard in the TV series, “Lost”.
The most memorable scene in the movie is where Cross takes to his daughter in a culmination of genuine fatherly emotion. Without giving too much away, the scene lasts for about 3 to 5 minutes and easily one of the most powerful scenes I have come across lately.
All in all, the story is very basic and there are plenty of loopholes – enough for a keen mind to explore and question the authenticity and believability of the movie. The acting is great, the action is believable, but the entire movie is let down by the story itself and inappropriate script lines. Leaving the cinema, I felt that I just finished watching a Bond movie circa 2001 – the depth of the story is simply non-existent.
As a final note – if you want to enjoy the story, it might be better if you pick up the book and have a good experience reading the story rather than watching the movie. It’s a shame really, the movie could have the potential to have been so much more.
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