Alex Cross 2012
Release Date: October 19, 2012
MPAA Rating: Pg-13
Runtime: 101 minutes
Director: Rob Cohen
Studio:Summit Entertainment
Genre: Action/Drama
Stars: Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox and Rachel Nichols
 2/5 stars Matthew Fox does a fantastic job playing a psychotic killer, but Alex Cross is a clichéd nightmare that possesses less originality and depth than most episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Alex Cross follows the young homicide detective / psychologist (Tyler Perry), from the worldwide best-selling novels by James Patterson, as he meets his match in serial killer Picasso (Matthew Fox). The two face off in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, but when the mission gets personal, Cross is pushed to the edge of his moral and psychological limits in this taut and exciting action thriller.
This was Tyler Perry’s chance to convince us that he is capable of succeeding in roles in which he doesn’t play a fat old cranky woman. Unfortunately, he fails, with help from a horribly clichéd script. For instance, the funeral, church, confrontation, and twist scenes are so clichéd that it will make you cringe. They have taken too many dialogue shortcuts and the text is so far removed from Patterson’s novel that the scene creation is unforgiveable. Let’s not put all the blame on the script.  In the few scenes where Perry has the chance to demonstrate the intuitive and analytical nature of homicide detective Alex Cross, ol’ Madea doesn’t deliver. He spits out his lines with the enthusiasm of a detective investigating parking ticket fraud. You can see the stiffness in his character which makes the suspension of disbelief impossible.
On the other hand, Matthew Fox (Picasso) does a fantastic job. Not only does he capture the personality of a merciless psychotic killer, but has physically changed his appearance by becoming thinner and more muscular. It is unfortunate that his character is not explored any further. The script barely touches on important remarks made by Picasso. For instance, Picasso remarks that he is fascinated by pain and killing and no satisfactory explanation or dialogue is given. This seriously affects the depth of the film.
Admittedly Patterson had the title changed on this project because the script was too far removed from the original novel and it shows. Though it had the inklings of a James Patterson piece, Alex Cross is a clichéd nightmare that possesses less originality and depth than most episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
