Alex Cross
Summit Entertainment | Release Date: October 19, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
30
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
16
Negative:
17
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
38
New York PostSara StewartOct 19, 2012
Aside from these curious role reversals, though, Alex Cross is a mess. Drawing on every conceivable '80s B-movie action cliché and treating its beleaguered female characters like pieces of meat (literally, in one scene of butchery), director Rob Cohen squanders a surprisingly recognizable cast on a half-baked plot adapted from James Patterson's series of novels. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisOct 18, 2012
Nothing works. Or some of it works, but that doesn't matter because what's working is so deeply, painfully boring. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubMike DAngeloOct 17, 2012
Perry shifts into full-on badass mode... well, the best that can be said is that he's sincere. For all that, he's still less embarrassing than Lost's Matthew Fox, likewise cast against type as the film's sadistic villain. Read full review
30
Village VoiceEric HynesOct 20, 2012
There's not a moment in Alex Cross that doesn't function splendidly as comedy. Which means that for all his cool-cat preening and heroic soul-searching, Tyler Perry must have felt right at home. Read full review
30
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinOct 20, 2012
What a whorish film this is: Even the serial killer lectures the detective. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovOct 17, 2012
It's a courageous but misguided move on Perry's part; he has none of Freeman's soulful, nuanced subtlety, and watching him display the gamut of emotions called for in Marc Moss and Kerry Williamson's script is like watching the Hulk attempt Swan Lake. Read full review
25
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumOct 20, 2012
In the face of such junk, the idea that Fox would proudly put himself on a punishing regime of severe diet and exercise to get prisoner-skinny-yet-crazy-muscled for the job of make-believe is vanity at best, obscenity at worst. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Adam NaymanOct 18, 2012
Instead of playing the role in drag, the erstwhile Madea simply is a drag. Read full review
25
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallOct 18, 2012
Alex Cross is slipshod cinema hoping to capitalize on a star out of his orbit here. Read full review
25
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsOct 18, 2012
Formulaic serial-killer crapola. Read full review
20
Time OutBen KenigsbergOct 20, 2012
In drag or out of it, the soft-spoken star has rarely been less convincing than when locking and loading from his home arsenal or dangling from a decaying Detroit edifice. Read full review
20
The New York TimesManohla DargisOct 18, 2012
A grim, dispiritingly stupid waste of time, energy, money and talent. Read full review
20
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyOct 18, 2012
The best of the Alex Cross mess suggests that as an actor, he has the talent to move beyond the world of Madea should he want to. He just needs to look for much better material. Read full review
20
VarietyPeter DebrugeOct 15, 2012
The cross-dressing "Madea" star seems out of his depth playing the hard-boiled detective made famous by Morgan Freeman in "Along Came a Spider" and "Kiss the Girls." Even action helmer Rob Cohen ("The Fast and the Furious," "XXX") seems to be off his game here. Read full review
16
Portland OregonianMarc MohanOct 18, 2012
The movie is stunningly perfunctory, soul-crushingly oblivious to its own lack of originality, and, to be blunt, just plain dumb. Read full review
16
The PlaylistDrew TaylorOct 17, 2012
Alex Cross is more boring than your average weeknight procedural, except much longer, dumber and more violent. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineChris CabinOct 17, 2012
Expositional and often self-serious to the point of genuine awkwardness, the dialogue is never as haltingly unconvincing as when it's attempting to give some approximation of Alex Cross's essential looseness and good humor. Read full review
More From This Movie

30 Critic Reviews

4.9 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 71 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL