Alex Cross

Alex Cross: Tyler Perry tries to fill Morgan Freeman’s shoes as detective Alex Cross, a role Freeman occupied in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. Perry is actually not terrible here, but everybody and everything surrounding him is. Director Rob Cohen employs sloppy editing, a maudlin soundtrack and bad supporting performances all around this hackneyed story of an assassin (played very poorly by an extremely thin Matthew Fox) and his inexplicable vendetta for Cross. Fox got real skinny for the role, and the effort shows in his physique. Unfortunately, the film also reveals that Lost may’ve represented his acting peak, because he’s ridiculously overwrought and amateurish in every scene. Perry handles a couple of heavy emotional scenes with palpable strength, although he doesn’t quite cut it as an action star. Edward Burns shows up as Cross’s partner, and it turns out he’s a pretty bad actor as well. Horribly edited fight scenes and silly dialogue kill this movie. I have a feeling Perry isn’t going to get a franchise out of this one.