Alex Cross (Movie) Review

What up people?!

Today, The Table TalkN Review Board has the pleasure to review the movie Alex Cross, starring Tyler Perry as Detective Dr Alex Cross.  I know this movie came out in theaters last fall, but when you have a little one, you don’t always get a chance to make it to the movies.  As a matter of fact some our best “Date Hours” are movie nights where we put the child to bed and get a glass of wine and a DVD or two.  

Now onto the review.  There are a couple of points to remember when looking at this movie.

1. {As mentioned before} it was out in theaters last fall.  Many people wrote their personal feelings on it.  They have their own reviews and opinions - that is fine.  This is mine.
2. This movie is based off a book - I’ve learned that the book is ALWAYS better.  You can say so much more, be more descriptive, and overall just be more detailed in a 400 page novel than you can in an hour & 1/2.
3. They switched up lead actors.  Morgan Freeman originally donned the role of Alex Cross when the other movies came out (Along Came a Spider & Kiss the Girls), but now the torch was passed to Tyler Perry.

To address the biggest issue that people have mentioned with this movie first, the main character.  If you ever read the Alex Cross series by James Patterson, you will know that cross is a 6 foot 4 Black Man, that has been accused of favoring Muhammad Ali.  Perry, is taller and bigger than Freemon so he at least looks the part.  As for acting - Perry has been the main character in many of his plays and movies (mainly as Madea) that has helped to pigeonhole him in a certain type of actor.  Madea movies are funny, and deal with other type of issues.  Perry has been accused of not being able to act, but his past roles have not really called for him to “act” persay, just be funny and hit the public with some good timing and catch phrases.  I enjoyed him as Madea, and guess what, when given the opportunity, I enjoyed him as Alex Cross.

If we only looked at actors and actresses as their first characters, then we would lose out on some good performances, some even great.  Michael Keaton - played Mr. Mom - was a great Bruce Wayne/Batman.  Bruce Willis - played in Moonlighting back in the mid to late 80’s, now, I love his Die Hard Movies - all 57 of them...  Adam Sandler is another one.  That’s why people are actors, they play different roles.  

Another issue is that fact that this movie series (there are 3 of them, making it an official series by my standards) is that the hero is played by a different actor.  There comes a point in time where a person gets older and cannot portray the identity of that hero anymore.  Anyone ever heard of a super spy secret agent that has a license to kill, that has Double 0 status? (James Bond for those that didn’t follow that.)

Ok, NOW - on to the movie review. (sorry for the rantings, but some of people’s arguments kinda “irked” me.)  First the obvious.  I actually liked the movie.  It was a pretty good adaptation of a book, that I would think of as very complex.  The Alex Cross series are generally filled with twists and turns, along with 2, 3 (sometimes 4) storylines that all end up being connected in the end.  This movie focused on just 1.  I can understand that because you only have so much time to keep an audience captive.  And with this being the first Alex Cross movie in over a decade, I can see why the studio would want to limit the time for this first film.  Cross attempts to capture the psychopathic killer in this movie that is targeting a multi-billion dollar foreign company.  Through his chase, his personal life becomes highly involved and intermingled with his career.  Most of us can relate to this, (career interfering with personal life) just this time his career happens to be dealing with crazies that want to kill people.

I felt that the story was believable.  The acting was really good.  The plot made sense.  While it was not a blockbuster in my book.  It turned in a solid performance.  I’m glad that I watched it for myself.  I rate this one a B.  It was a solid movie, I wouldn’t have called in sick to work to see it, but it was worth viewing.  I recommend, that if you like action films, this one is not a bad way to go.

Share with us your thoughts and comments.  Also let us know what other things you would want us to consider reviewing.

Table TalkN Review Board signing off...