I had no idea honestly what I was going into seeing Alex Cross. I was supposed to see Looper, but plans got changed. So this wasn’t a movie I’d go and see on purpose. But even so, I wasn’t impressed with Alex Cross. The doctor/psychologist/police officer played by Tyler Perry was cool himself, yes, but the plot line was just bad, it was so simple. Find the killer is the gist of it. The film takes place in Detroit where Cross and his partners Monica Ashe played Rachel Nicols and Tommy Kane played by Edward Burns  find themselves against a sadistic killer who sedates and tortures his victims, for unknown reasons at first. Action and pursuit are ensued as the killer flees and leaves little trace of his notorious plot.

There was a serial killer who was hired by an unknown boss, and even that wasn’t clear. You see it in the beginning of the movie, yet the killer gets so intent on his own sadistic tortures that I forgot he was hired. The serial killer isn’t even clearly identified at the end of the movie, just given a code name Picasso. The plot jumped from place to place way too fast. In the opening scene, I wasn’t even sure why Cross and his partners were running around an abandoned building, shooting after some man. In one random scene, Picasso goes to an underground fight club, and beats the heck out the other fighter. I really don’t know why either, maybe for the money, but it was not clear at all. It was also unclear also as to what they were doing at one point when Cross and Kane break into the police station.

This film you focus so much on the killer and his cruelty you forget that he was ever hired and that there was more to his motives than desire. It did not keep my attention very well. The action was mediocre at best, nowhere near the quality of your average James Bond film. There was one scene that I would say was a good scene, when Picasso and Cross were duking it out hand to hand over a large drop. Yet it wasn’t realistic because Picasso took out an MMA fighter who was highly trained, and Cross is only a police officer, no matter how hefty, strong, or angry he is. It wasn’t realistic at that part.

Also, the ending could have been much better. I won’t spoil it, but it was not what I expected, and it just didn’t fit that well.

This is not a movie I would recommend to anyone who seeks a good thriller with an intriguing plot.  A lot of reasons and motives were unclear and it was too fast paced.

I would give Alex Cross a 4 out of 10.