Alex Cross ★★½

JAMES Patterson is one of the most successful crime writers in history.

But, like Lee Child’s Reacher, one of Patterson’s best known characters hasn’t yet resulted in a successful film franchise.

Dr Alex Cross has been played by Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry.

Freeman’s two outings – Kiss The Girls in 1997 and Along Came a Spider (2001) – were decent thrillers, particularly the former, but neither set the box-office on fire.

Basically it was a crowded cinema market back then and the character and stories just didn’t stand out enough.

The same goes for the third attempt to create a series 11 years later – Alex Cross, starring Perry and Matthew Fox.

This was the least successful of the three, both financially and critically, and basically ended the franchise chances.

The story is a little confusing. A hit man named Picasso starts off targeting well-known members of the Detroit crime world but gets generally side-tracked into a personal vendetta against Cross for some barely explained reason.

Perry is okay as the hero but Fox, as the hit man, gives a bizarre performance full of facial tics and vocals.

Some of the action also requires too much suspension of disbelief for a film that is trying to appear grounded in a grim reality.

JAMES Patterson is one of the most successful crime writers in history.

But, like Lee Child’s Reacher, one of Patterson’s best known characters hasn’t yet resulted in a successful film franchise.

Dr Alex Cross has been played by Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry.

Freeman’s two outings – Kiss The Girls in 1997 and Along Came a Spider (2001) – were decent thrillers, particularly the former, but neither set the box-office on fire.

Basically it was a crowded cinema market back then and the character and stories just didn’t stand out enough.

The same goes for the third attempt to create a series 11 years later – Alex Cross, starring Perry and Matthew Fox.

This was the least successful of the three, both financially and critically, and basically ended the franchise chances.

The story is a little confusing. A hit man named Picasso starts off targeting well-known members of the Detroit crime world but gets generally side-tracked into a personal vendetta against Cross for some barely explained reason.

Perry is okay as the hero but Fox, as the hit man, gives a bizarre performance full of facial tics and vocals.

Some of the action also requires too much suspension of disbelief for a film that is trying to appear grounded in a grim reality.

JAMES Patterson is one of the most successful crime writers in history.

But, like Lee Child’s Reacher, one of Patterson’s best known characters hasn’t yet resulted in a successful film franchise.

Dr Alex Cross has been played by Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry.

Freeman’s two outings – Kiss The Girls in 1997 and Along Came a Spider (2001) – were decent thrillers, particularly the former, but neither set the box-office on fire.

Basically it was a crowded cinema market back then and the character and stories just didn’t stand out enough.

The same goes for the third attempt to create a series 11 years later – Alex Cross, starring Perry and Matthew Fox.

This was the least successful of the three, both financially and critically, and basically ended the franchise chances.

The story is a little confusing. A hit man named Picasso starts off targeting well-known members of the Detroit crime world but gets generally side-tracked into a personal vendetta against Cross for some barely explained reason.

Perry is okay as the hero but Fox, as the hit man, gives a bizarre performance full of facial tics and vocals.

Some of the action also requires too much suspension of disbelief for a film that is trying to appear grounded in a grim reality.