Even though in novel form they remain steady sellers at airports, it's been a decade or so since Hollywood was interested in big screen tales of crime-solving cops versus serial killer super-villains.
So on that level, Alex Cross gains points for sheer novelty value, even if it's actually a prequel to Kiss the Girls and Along Came A Spider, both of which starred Morgan Freeman as FBO profiler Cross.
Here Cross (played by Tyler Perry) is still a Detroit cop, though a pretty high-status one, leading his own team of crack investigators on the big cases.
This one involves a string of murders by a twisted professional killer known as Picasso (an alarmingly thin Matthew Fox) who seems to be killing his way up the corporate hierarchy of a giant multinational firm.
Cross is smart enough to thwart Picasso’s next killing; he’s not smart enough to realise that means the killer will turn his attentions to him.
This is extremely basic stuff, seemingly put together for an audience that has never seen a cops-versus-serial-killer thriller before (and after a decade away from the big screens, maybe they haven't).
It doesn't screw up the basic storytelling; it just has zero style or flair or surprises on offer.
Perry's performance is pretty limited but he gets better as the film goes on, while Fox's intense killer is perhaps too good for what is in every other way a film best described as "technically competent".
A sequel's already been confirmed: it probably couldn’t be worse than this bland effort.
2 out of 5
Alex Cross Australian release: 8th November, 2012 Official Site:Alex Cross Cast: Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox, Edward Burns, Rachel Nichols, Jean Reno Director: Rob Cohen
