Written by Tyrone Bruinsma JAMES PATTERSON Full disclosure, I have never read a James Patterson novel. I used to read more when I was younger, but having turned to focus on visual media-I’ve read less than I should have. From what I gather though, James Patterson has a similar reputation to Dan Brown or Clive Cussler: not critically praised, repetitious works that make lots of money. I respect authors who can get consistent books releases out and make a viable career out of it-just haven’t heard the most glowing recommendations. But despite the massive success of his books, not many have been hits when adapted to cinema. Arguably, the forgotten Alex Cross films we’re gonna talk about are the most successful adaptations. SILENCE OF THE LAMBS/SE7EN For context into why James Patterson’s doctor/detective character Alex Cross character was given the cinematic treatment-it was due to Silence of the Lambs and Seven. The two 90’s thrillers were instrumental in creating the modern crime genre as we know it. CSI, Criminal Minds and a slew of imitators all have to thank Silence of the Lambs and Seven for their popularity and existence. The character of Alex Cross was entirely aimed to capitalize off this trend by adapted the 1995 novel Kiss the Girls by Patterson, instead of the first novel Along Came a Spider. This is similar to how Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons novel was released first, but the sequel novel The Da Vinci Code was adapted first. Popularity over continuity as far as studios are concerned. So, how does Kiss the Girls compare? KISS THE GIRLS Kiss the Girls came out in October of 1997; directed by Gary Fleder, written by David Klass and starring Morgan Freeman as the lead Alex Cross. Morgan Freeman’s casting obviously tries to recall audience’s memory of how expertly he played Detective Somerset in Seven, but he’s not asked to play the same character in Alex Cross. Morgan Freeman actually plays Cross well as a near genius analyst who rarely shows the human underneath his rugged exterior. Director Gary Fleder made his 2nd directorial effort with this film and largely does a solid job. Despite the fact that his only other film I’ve seen is the terrible Imposter from 2001, there’s genuine artistry and intent into this film. Something that I found good at first and better upon reflection were the opening credits, they don’t attempt to be like Seven for the better. They’re opening credits that create a creepy expectation, and in retrospect feel far more sinister. And in regards to writer David Klass, his only other notable film is Dwayne Johnson’s Walking Tall from 2003. Here, he wrote a well-paced, gratifying story with the right mix of intelligence and terror. The rest of the cast featuring Ashley Judd in the 2nd lead, Cary Elwes and Jay O. Sanders do a great job. The cinematography and visuals by future Greyhound director Aaron Schneider are great, the score is solid and there’s plenty of moments I liked from the film. But despite making double it’s budget-the film was not a major success and was critically disliked by many. I think the critical distaste came from the fact that the film’s direct inspirations were far superior and made critics shake their heads. And audiences were far more interested in films like LA Confidential, Seven Years in Tibet, I Know What You Did Last Summer and the feature version of Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean. Returning to it and having no prior viewing of it-Kiss the Girls is actually good. While it’s pulled from similar material Thomas Harris popularized and doesn’t execute as well-it’s still a solid movie with enough thrills and smarts to bring to the table. It’s far superior to other attempts like The Bone Collector, Taking Lives and The Snowman for sure. It’s a film where I don’t have much to say other than I enjoyed it and think it’s a worthwhile watch. Not super complex, not super dark, but more than well made. I do want to go into the serial killer Casanova and his rather disturbing, but fascinating psychology. Casanova kidnaps women he observes through stalking, kidnaps them and tries to make them love him. When they fail due to trying to escape or defying him, he kills them. Casanova targets talented and defiant women, wanting to break them down into lesser people. He’s basically a grade-A misogynist or incel who pretends to value a woman’s strengths, but wants them to submit to him. Considering how much sexism and anti-progressivism have consumed men through toxic internet culture-it’s not far off today. The only other thing I want to mention is my favorite scene in the film. Alex Cross’s investment in this string of murders is that his violinist niece Naomi may be one of the victims. At one point, her college professor is a suspect and interrogated by Cross. The professor not only admits to sleeping with and photographing all his students sexually, but to having slept with Naomi. Despite being clearly innocent, the way he smugly describes Naomi and taunting Cross with “Did you see her pictures?” to where Cross assaults him is great stuff. It’s a scene that really got my emotions fired up, something a bad film would struggle to do. Weirdly, this film and its sequel reminded me of the Philip Noyce/Harrison Ford Jack Ryan films from earlier in the 90’s. Both in the sense that they’re adaptations of popular novel characters made into glossy 90’s thriller films that lasted two installments. Obviously, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger are superior films, but Kiss the Girls and its sequel Along Came a Spider deserve to be seen. ALONG CAME A SPIDER Despite somewhat negative reviews, the $60 Million box office intake was enough for Paramount to greenlight a sequel. Hiring a new writer and director for the adaptation of Alex Cross’s first novel, the film cost as a much money as its prior film made-but did end up making over $100 Million at the box office. Despite being more successful, the film still didn’t gain many positive reviews and faced steep competition. While many films in April of 2001 bombed like Town and Country, Driven and Freddy Got Fingered-they were competing against Spy Kids, Memento, Pokemon 3 and the box office monster Bridget Jones’s Diary. Along Came a Spider did admirably well for itself, considering in today’s box office climate-it either would’ve been demolished or thrown onto Netflix. Instead of recreating a serial killer story, Alone Came a Spider instead follows a kidnapping with political ties. A US Senator’s daughter has been kidnapped by a genius maniac wanting to outclass the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and only Morgan Freeman’s Alex Cross can stop him. It’s a relatively effective change of pace to scale up a sequel, going from a relatively small series of murders to a political scope in kidnapping works. An example of this idea failing is The Girl in the Spider’s Web trying to be a large-scale soft reboot to David Fincher’s remake of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Morgan Freeman does great in the role again, playing a slightly more jaded version of Alex Cross due to the prologue’s backstory. The rest of the cast including Monica Potter, Michael Wincott and a young Aton Yelchin are all excellent. The film’s cinematographer Matthew F. Leonetti is a seasoned veteran whose work includes Poltergeist, Commando, The Butterfly Effect and Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead. He makes the film look superior and grander as a sequel. New writer Marc Ross did script doctoring work on Kiss the Girls and later 2007’s Shooter, so he clearly feels comfortable with the sequel-trimming some fat from the novel’s story to make this a lean and fast thriller. Along Came a Spider is what I’d call a solid genre film. It’s very much akin to simple, but well-functioning thrillers we don’t’ see much lately like: Cop Land, Payback, The Pelican Brief or Wild Things. Crime thriller scripts either get turned into tv episodes, epic dramas like Shutter Island or on-demand thrillers you forget about instantly. There’s not much of an audience for mid-budget studio thrillers aimed at adults unless it’s tied to a franchise like 2019’s Joker. But the movie is ultimately worth seeing or revisiting. It’s surprisingly violent when the guns start going off, the direction and visuals are great, it’s got a solid pace and has a pretty clever result. Also, the girl who is kidnapped is one of the most enjoyable child characters in cinema as she isn’t constantly screaming and intelligently tries to escape or avoid death. While I think this film is technically better than the first film, there is one major problem that keeps me from truly loving it and that’s the opening prologue. Now, I like cold opens that give us context for a character or to help set the tone of the film. But, the opening scene for Along Came a Spider is unnecessary. Cross is already a somewhat brooding character, killing an FBI partner doesn’t do much for him. But it’s not just that this opening is unnecessary, it’s that it has some truly terrible CGI for a theoretically cool car crash. Whereas films like Fast and Furious sequels, Casino Royale or Bad Boys 2 would give you crunchy practical car crashes-Along Came a Spider uses some of the worst CGI I’ve seen to achieve a pointlessly flashy opening. I genuinely believe that if you cut the opening scene, Along Came a Spider would be a better film. Even for its time, the CGI was considered bad-Watchmojo even labelled it 3rd worst in their August 16 2013 video “Top 10 Worst CGI Movie Effects” [Top 10 Worst CGI Movie Effects - YouTube]. In 2001-you had many films with amazing CGI effects like Jurassic Park 3 and the first installments in the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises. But you had just as many bad instances of CGI from that year like The Mummy Returns or Cats and Dogs. And unfortunately, bad CGI would be a common theme with the film’s director-Lee Tamahori LEE TAMAHORI Lee Tamahori is a New Zealand director with a respectable career trajectory. His debut film Once Were Warriors about New Zealanders in a post-modern light was widely praised worldwide and gained him notable attention. His first Hollywood job was Mulholland Falls, the 1996 neo noir thriller for MGM. The film was not particularly well received or financially successful. Fortunately, his next film was The Edge in 1997 written by legendary writer David Mamet. It was a drama crossed with a survival thriller involving a bear and made over $40 Million at the box office. After this, Tamahori was brought on to direct Along Came a Spider and its success lead him to become a somewhat in-demand blockbuster director. Watching Along Came a Spider has the style, story and execution of a spy thriller-so it’s no surprise he’d be chosen to direct the next James Bond installment. Unfortunately, Tamahori directed Die Another Day-one of the worst James Bond films ever made. Terrible CGI returns from Along Came a Spider in greater numbers, the story is stupid and the tone creates an “I don’t care attitude” for the audience. I will say I did like Halley Berry as Jinx and Madonna’s opening song, but the film really is terrible. Despite causing the series to reboot, Die Another Day managed to make over $430 Million at the box office and was the 6th Highest Grossing Film of 2002. After this, Tamahori was brought on to direct the sequel to xXx. The first film was a failed attempt to make Fast and the Furious lightning strike twice, so Ice Cube was called in to replace Vin Diesel. Despite being somewhat more nonsensically fun than the first-it lacked the solid production value of the first or third films in the series. It’s probably the one I’d watch if I just need some bubble gum for the brain…but bad CGI followed our director yet again. Unlike his last two efforts, xXx 2 was a box office bomb and made $70 Million against its $113 Million budget. Released in April of 2005, everything else was out done at the box office by Sin City, The Interpreter and Amityville remake. Lee Tamahori then suffered a personal embarrassment when he was arrested in Los Angeles after entering a police vehicle wearing a dress and offering sexual favors for cash. Lee was not drunk and had apparently always has a kinky side to his life that received an unwelcoming exposure. I have no disrespect for Tamahori and think his sexual tastes are perfectly valid. He’s been seen as a very professional and kind person in the community, so I hope he’s been keeping his nose clean since. His next film was the 2007 sci-fi action film Next starring Nicolas Cage. The film was poorly received and failed at the box office due to competition from Fracture and Hot Fuzz, before being annihilated by Spider-Man 3. Tamahori hasn’t return to Hollywood since Next, though he supposedly directed a film called Emperor that hasn’t been released due to legal issues. His most recent film was a return to New Zealand with Mahana that reviewed fairly well. Along Came a Spider opened the door for Tamahori in Hollywood, but after a few duds and possibly due to the public issue-the doors appear to have closed and I feel sorry for him. Along Came a Spider is probably his best Hollywood era film with Once Were Warriors still remaining his classic. ALEX CROSS (2012)
As for what became of the Morgan Freeman/Alex Cross series, it quietly evaporated. Despite both films doing moderately well, I can only assume it wasn’t a priority for Paramount due to bad reviews and no creative lead for the series. According to Cecil of Good Bad Flicks in his video on The Crazies [Exploring The Crazies (2010) - YouTube], Paramount began to focus on $100+ Million budgeted films than other projects. Considering Alex Cross wasn’t exactly Mission Impossible, I assume they had no more need for the series. Also, Morgan Freeman probably found more engaging work as he won an Oscar for his role in Million Dollar Baby and found a reliable spot in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. A reboot eventually found its way to Lionsgate with Idris Elba from Thor and American Gangster as Alex Cross. The writer/director would be David Twohy, writer and director of Below and Pitch Black. While I would’ve enjoyed seeing their version, Idris Elba was eventually replaced with Tyler Perry and David Twohy’s script was replaced by Marc Moss from Along Came a Spider and new writer Kerry Williamson. In the director’s chair was Rob Cohen, director of Dragonheart, the first Fast and Furious, xXx and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Despite a long career, Cohen has had many bad films to his name and has been accused by multiple women of rape, drugging before sexual assault and rape of a minor. I’m inclined to believe his victims so all apologists please don’t bother with a comment. Alex Cross was released in 2012 and was considered one of the worst movies of the year. The plot was stupid while taking itself way too seriously, neither Tyler Perry’s Cross nor Matthew Fox’s villain could make their characters work and the direction was terrible. While Morgan Freeman’s Alex Cross films kept action simple and primarily at the film’s climax, 2012’s Alex Cross tries to be an action franchise akin to Taken and fails. The camera shakes so much combined with rapid editing to create the illusion of exciting action scenes. Part of the problem is Tyler Perry as Alex Cross. Tyler Perry is basically a giant teddy bear known for his Madea movies that I’ve never seen. I’ve not heard good things, but apparently, he connected with a strand of black American audiences and that’s fine. Unfortunately, he’s not suited as grizzled detective and doesn’t have the right notes. He would prove to be a great actor in David Fincher’s Gone Girl 2 years later, but then he said if he knew Fincher’s work beforehand-he wouldn’t have accepted the role. Tyler Perry has done a lot of good and seems like a really sweet guy, I just question some of his creative choices. Unsurprisingly, the negative reviews plus competition from Taken 2, Pitch Perfect, Paranormal Activity 4, Argo, Sinister and Skyfall made the film a box office bomb. A sequel titled “Double Cross” is in limbo due to the failure of the film, but being somewhat maintained by a relationship between Tyler Perry and author James Patterson. Nothing has been said since 2013, so I assume the project is dead. More than likely, Alex Cross will either receive another failure attempt at a reboot or someone will take the character’s nearly 30 novels and turn them into a tv series. Alex Cross could easily fit into a CSI or Criminal Minds mold with a strong lead performer like the SWAT tv show that’s currently on its 5th season. CONCLUSION So, what’s my opinion on the Alex Cross films? Well ignoring the terrible reboot, I think the Morgan Freeman films are worth going back and watching. If you’re someone who loves murder mystery or criminal thriller stories-you’ll love these. They’re not Silence of the Lambs or Seven, but feel akin to the Harrison Ford Jack Ryan films or John Grisham legal thriller adaptations. They’re solid, above average engagement that will thrill you. I would love to see a reboot for cinema, with the best angle likely be a darker approach akin to Matt Reeves The Batman movie. Whoever has the film rights-Alex Cross can return for new adventures and knock it out of the park.
0 Comments
|
Tyrone BruinsmaThis is the Official Blog/Magazine for filmmaker, writer and content producer Tyrone Bruinsma Categories
All
|