I've probably seen the Cross trailer like a million times already and it never gets old. It's just so visceral and in your face that I absolutely love it. I like the background song, the scream bit of it, and I like getting a real good look at the characters behind it. But then I looked at the comments and all I could think was: WTF?

First of all, most of the comments on Youtube complain about Tyler Perry as an action hero. I'll admit, when I first saw the trailer and I noticed that he was going to be in it, I complained too. Viewers mostly see Tyler Perry as a cross (<-- hehe) dressing 6'2 man who could pull off a funny woman voice and a funny old man, and double as their nephew. I mean, he can't deny that resemblence right?

But as I kept watching the trailer, I decided to give him a small chance. I'm not sure if he acted in anything but his own movies, but I do know that I really don't like him as a filmmaker. He's smart, I'll give him that, he knows how to keep the production costs down and when his movies make a lot, he could pocket it all. What I don't agree with is how similar all of his movies are. They are all about some bitter black woman who was wronged by one man and she's so mad, she takes it out on the next guy that comes along in her life to make it better. She uses her insecurity to drive him away only to discover at the end of the movie that he really was the one for her and that they should remain together. Not all black women are like that!

That's fine and dandy but after the 6th time, shouldn't he give up? And what does that say about his viewers who keep flocking to these new movies only to be treated like we're dumb and can't notice that it's the same story over and over, with different if the same people? Show of hands, who actually goes for the movie? I know I only go to see Madea because if Tyler Perry knows how to do anything, it's Madea. But lately, Madea has barely made appearances in his movies. So it stands to reason that fans of the Alex Cross movies will be more than hesitant about having Tyler Perry embody the title character.



But then again, Tyler Perry isn't directing and he didn't write the screenplay. Hopefully he takes better direction than he gives it. I'm willing to give him that chance and prove to me that he can take on this role.

The only problem I had with him in the trailer is that he talks too damn much. I get that he's supposed to be a profiler, but he's also supposed to be a detective trying to save his family from this mad man. Right now, he's just doing a little more talking than acting. If some mad man was after my family and I had the skill to profile him and hunt him down, why are you sitting around talking to everyone else about how he operates? I guess that's my problem with all of the Alex Cross movies, he does too much talking and not enough acting. Well, I guess it was kind of like that in the books huh? But books can get away with it, not movies. I don't know about ya'll but I prefer my movies with lots of blood, lots of fighting, and lots of smashing cars. So, I don't know, maybe he'll do good, maybe he won't, but I want to give him that chance to prove me wrong.

The villain is being played by Michael Fox. If it weren't for Lost and my unabashed love for his acting, I would have been a little iffy about this casting choice. But watching the trailer over and over, he grew on me. Fox really took this role seriously. By the end of Lost he was losing his shape a little, but in the trailer, he was super cut. His arms were cut and defined, he shaved his head and just embodied this really bad ass-ness that I wasn't expecting. It really made me wonder why people hadn't cast him as a bad guy before.

Fox just really lookes like he could be a psychopath who likes inflicting pain on people. That part where he's in the water tank, how genius was that? And I'm not even sure I would have been as cool about it. I'm not clausterphobic but even I was cringing a little. He just brings a scary mentality to it and it looks like he likes messing with people. Like the part where he's looking through a sniper rifle at his wife, Fox says, "Dr. Cross, you're taking this personally." How great a line is this?

Fox even has the voice to go along with it! When I first watched Lost and I heard his voice, I was like wait, is that really him? It had sounded a little girly in the beginning but after the first episode, there was nothing girly about Mr. Michael Fox. So I think that this casting choice was really good. I haven't read the book yet but I believe that Michael Fox will bring a new level of villain to the movie universe and it will shut everyone down who can only see him as Jack on Lost.


And seriously, can people stop talking about the background music to the trailer? I get that a lot of trailers must use it, and why not? It's not like the other trailers have their name written on the freakin' song. It doesn't only belong to them. It doesn't have to be relegated to just one trailer. It takes a scarily amount of time and skill to put together a trailer without giving a lot away but also getting people's attention and making people want to go and see it. They may have over a million and one songs to go through and that song was the one that worked. So honestly Youtube commenters, STFU about the song and pay attention to the trailer.

And to the people who felt that they already seen the whole movie in the trailer, some movies have done that but I think by synopses alone, anyone could know what the movie is about. It's how they project the movie is the true genuis. Give the movie a chance. I bet there are a lot of surprises that we haven't even begun to fathom. Do I feel like I've seen the whole movie? No. All I know is that Cross is taking a new job, some mad man who likes pain starts terrorizing everyone, and Cross tracks him down when he threatens his family. Bam. Done. But is that the whole movie? No. Not by a long shot. Filmmakers took a long time to make the movie and make sure everything is up to date and people aren't going to see it simply because the music on the trailer is being used too much? *RASPBERRY!*

And yes, I'm a filmmaker in training. LOL! And try having a good Monday, I know I'm trying to!