When we heard there would be a feature film continuation of the Alex Cross series started by Morgan Freeman, and that the enigmatic Idris Elba was tapped to play the title role, we were excited by this development.
We’ve sung Elba’s praises for the troubled but brilliant detective he plays in the hit BBC series Luther, so this seemed like a natural step in the right direction, and a real way to showcase a burgeoning talent. He certainly has the depth and the ability to be chilling, calculating, and mesmerizing onscreen. And then we heard that Elba was out and Tyler Perry was in. What? No, seriously, what? Heretofore there was no indication that Perry could handle a real big budget drama. After all, he was best known for cracking skulls with frying pans and terrorizing children as the statuesque, lady-titan, Madea. Nothing on his resume lends itself to being able to perform well in an action-thriller. What we had was the studio execs making the case for Perry by saying that he’s a big box-office draw, and if you can get the likes of Perry, you just should. Urgh. And that folks is what many of us hate about Hollywood. The pandering to the almighty dollar at the expense of good filmmaking.
So, the studio got Perry while forsaking an actor who could really find the meat in an Alex Cross story, and what we see in the trailer here is the gristle. Perry looks out of his depth, and yes, despite his desire to branch out we still see and hear Madea rattling around the edges. This is what happens when you’re about ten Madea movies in and counting. In addition, the movie also looks to be on the lower budget scale, and that’s without throwing in Matthew Fox, television actor, who plays the villain, and Ed Burns, once promising filmmaker, and now bottom-barrel movie dweller, who plays Perry’s partner. This does not bode well. So, in this regard it’s really up to Perry to carry the movie. This is the biggest challenge, and we don’t truly believe that he can do it with satisfaction. But that doesn’t mean it won’t make a pantyhose-load of cash.
Elba’s said he really wants to bring his Luther series to the big screen. We’re hoping he gets a shot. Alex Cross looks like it will either be a springboard for other things for Perry, or may solidify his starring as Madea until he can no longer “Heller” “Hallelujer” his way to box office success.
