Along Came a Spider

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Monica Potter, Michael Wincott, Dylan Baker, Anton Yelchin, Mika Boorem, Kim Hawthrone, Billy Burke, Penelope Ann Miller
Directed by: Lee Tamahori
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
2001

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Dr. Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman) gets involved in a kidnapping case that proves to be quite perplexing to the cops.

Review:

Tim: I really enjoyed the first Alex Cross movie, 1997's Kiss the Girls, so I was pretty excited for this film. I really like Morgan Freeman in this role, and I was excited to see the continued adventures of our famous profiler. This film is a worthwhile sequel, although it's not quite as good as the original film.

It's interesting that this story actually came before the previous movie, according to James Patterson's novels. This story feels a bit less defined than the previous one. In addition, it's pretty obvious that the story was altered some from the original novel (which I haven't read). This gives the movie a little bit of a disjointed feel, as if we're watching a patchwork story. This is not a major flaw, but it was noticeable.

I thought the story was interesting, but just less compelling than Kiss the Girls. In that film, Cross was racing against time to save several young women from being murdered. In this film, he's racing against time because we don't really know or understand what the kidnapper is planning. It's just not nearly as exciting. Plus, we're told early on who the kidnapper is, which prevents us from having any real suspense in that area. It's not necessarily a bad approach (it was actually a bit of a relief not to have to guess who the killer was), but it results in less suspense in this film.

As you might expect, this movie does have a few unexpected twists and turns. While not earth-shattering, they definitely kept me on my toes. I appreciated those unseen moments that made you rethink certain aspects of the film. The twists were one of the things I really liked about this movie.

Morgan Freeman is once again good as Alex Cross. My only complaint is how steady and calm he was throughout the entire film. He gave off the impression that he wasn't really worried about the kidnapped girl, which made us as the audience not worry too much. He's good, but he was better the first time around. I liked Monica Potter, but Potter is not nearly as good as Ashley Judd (I hate to keep comparing this to Kiss the Girls, but you kind of have to). Michael Wincott is very good, in a disturbing, weird kind of way. The cast as a whole is fairly good (and look for a very young Anton Yelchin!).

While this movie does have its share of flaws, it's still an entertaining thriller. It doesn't quite reach the heights of the original movie, but it still works. It's an enjoyable viewing experience, and the story does keep you guessing. It's disappointing this movie wasn't better, because I would have loved to see more Morgan-Freeman-as-Alex-Cross movies. This is a good sequel, though, although it does drop a little in quality.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Kiss the Girls, High Crimes