The third outing for James Patterson's fictional detective Alex Cross, following on from two adaptations of his work in the 1990s: KISS THE GIRLS and ALONG CAME A SPIDER. This one's a mess of a film, which is largely down to a poor choice of director and two poor choices for the main actors.The narrative involves Alex Cross and his chums who are on the trail of a psychotic assassin who enjoys inflicting pain upon his victims. As the story progresses it becomes clear that this bad guy will stop at nothing to complete his job, which leads to a handful of mildly memorable moments including a great twist thrown in that you won't expect or indeed see coming.A shame, then, that the execution is so muddled, with Rob Cohen once again proving a poor choice as director. You just can't take the story seriously, somehow. Tyler Perry replaces Morgan Freeman as the crusading detective, replete with Holmesian-style deductive reasoning, and I can't think of a poorer replacement. Freeman is one of those guys who constantly gives solid performances no matter the film whereas Perry's character might as well be a walking corpse. There's no emotion from him, just cold stiffness.Equally stiff is a lamentable Matthew Fox as the supposed villain. Although Fox certainly looks imposing, when it comes to his acting it's rather dire. I've never liked this guy, and his attempts at wide-eyed menace fall flat every time. Lower down the cast list we get a bloated Jean Reno and the walking plank of wood that is Ed Burns. Even the requisite fight scenes and action bits can't lift this lifeless thriller out of the doldrums.

the crime-scene cop, the one who is supposed to convey the horror of what he just found ... is the doctor of "Scrub". - the romance between 2 criminal investigators, in love since they're 12... - "Our killer thinks he is a Picasso". says the police team-mate... - "We are all formers from the German police" say the bodyguards...At this point in the film, I had HUGE doubts regarding the potential of film. And then I saw skinny Matthew Fox swimming in a decorative water pipe, and I totally lost hope.I will try to stick to plans, and produce a serious review :the plot is stupid. Main character Alex Cross (Tyler Perry) investigates the crimes of a contract killer, who gives out transparent clues on his next target by drawing Picasso-inspired fusains (just because he is crazy). The uninspired writers had several reminiscence of David Fincher's seVen (pregnant wife, self-punishment, etc).the cinematography is worse than most TV series.the music score by John Debney (several Marvel soundtracks, "Hanna Montana") is transparent. The crying violins are repeatedly boring. The moments of emotional tension are highlighted by digital percussions.the actors? ...ah ah. AH AH AH!

I've been reading James Patterson for 20 years and have read ALL the Alex Cross books. This piece of crap was made for the money and no other reason. And from the posted gross, that didn't work either. First, the two previous movies were based on Alex Cross books, 'Along Came A Spider' and 'Kiss the Girls'. This was a made up story that is too predictable. Second, the partner, Thomas Kane, is NOT Cross' partner. He has NEVER had a partner except John Sampson. Third, Maria would have been dead BEFORE this movie, not in this movie. Fourth, set in DETROIT, not D.C. where it should have been set. I don't remember a single story where Alex Cross worked in Detroit, let alone lived there. Fifth, Cicely Tyson, as good as she is, was WRONG for the role of Nana Mama. Should I go on? If you love Alex Cross, stay away from this piece of garbage.

I'm sure Morgan Freeman wishes he was thirty years younger if he watches this effort with his characters' name attributed to it. This is nothing like 'Kiss the girls' or 'Along came a spider'. The performers can only actor with the script they're given but surely there must be somebody better than Tyler Perry? Idris Elba would have been perfect for this role.This movie feels more like a spoof than an action thriller. Poorly acted by both lead players and the plot is so predictable that it's painful. The cast do their best with the material, 'Lost' star Matthew Fox appears to have invested a lot into the film, almost unrecognisable as the heavily tattooed, muscular psycho. His physical transformation can't disguise overacting, but at least it's a menacing performance.