Back in 1993, James Patterson’s forensic psychologist character Alex Cross made his debut in the novel Along Came a Spider. As played by Morgan Freeman, Cross leapt to the big screen via 1997’s Kiss the Girls.

Freeman reprised the role in 2001’s Along Came a Spider. Neither movie did great business, so the series remained dormant until Tyler Perry starred in a 2012 reboot simply called Alex Cross.

Based on 2006’s novel Cross, Detroit Police Detective Alex Cross (Perry) and his partner Tommy Kane (Edward Burns) get the assignment to investigate the apparent murder of wealthy socialite Fan Yau Lee (Stephanie Jacobsen). They also bring along rookie Monica Ashe (Rachel Nichols) as part of their team.

As Cross and company dig into the case, they discover more than an isolated incident. They butt heads with an assassin known solely as “Picasso” (Matthew Fox) and try to stay ahead of his violent spree.

Perry gained most of his fame as the cross-dressing star of the “Madea” movies, and that character remains his primary legacy. Perry tried to break out of this mold with Cross, but after it flopped at the box office, he retreated to the comfort zone of Madea for most of his projects over the last decade.

Based on what I saw with Cross, I can’t say audiences lost out on cinematic greatness. Whatever charm Perry may bring to his comedies feels absolutely absent here, as he makes for an intensely dull protagonist.

Of course, Perry seemed unlikely to compete with Morgan Freeman, the first cinematic Cross. And that doesn’t seem like a matter of shame, as few film actors match up with the talent of Freeman.

Nonetheless, it feels nearly shocking to observe how bland Perry seems in the role. Perhaps he wanted to get away from the broad flamboyance of Madea as much as possible with his dramatic role here.

Whatever the motivation, Perry provides a pancake-flat performance, and he robs the movie of its potential passion. Perry sleepwalks through the part of proves remarkably devoid of charisma or personality.

Not that the rest of Cross shows much promise. Look up “journeyman director” and you’ll find a photo of Cross filmmaker Rob Cohen.

Oh, Cohen made some reasonably entertaining movies over his decades in the business. However, I’d feel hard-pressed to find a single Cohen flick that I could call more than “moderately watchable”, as efforts like the original Fast and the Furious and Dragonheart never really excelled.

Cross falls on the lower end of Cohen’s filmography. It might not offer his worst movie, but it delivers one of his weaker efforts.

Cohen simply can’t find anything creative to do with the material. Granted, given how well-trodden this genre is, it becomes tough for anyone to innovate.

Nonetheless, someone more talented than Cohen could at least have made Cross less hackneyed and more engaging. The film barely demonstrates a pulse, as it pursues its tired story and clichés with a relentless lack of energy or personality.

Neither of the Morgan Freeman Alex Cross movies became better than average. Nonetheless, they look pretty good compared to the wholly limp Cross.

Alex Cross appears in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a generally positive presentation.

Sharpness looked solid. A few shots were slightly soft, but not to a substantial degree, so most of the movie seemed accurate and concise.

No jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws were a non-factor, as the movie stayed clean.

Like most modern thrillers, Cross favored a teal tint with a dollop of amber as well and some dingy shades of green and yellow. Within their parameters, the colors appeared solid.

Blacks seemed deep and tight, while shadows were smooth and well-delineated. In the end, the transfer proved to be appealing.

As for the DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack of Cross, it became a reasonably involving mix. With a smattering of action scenes, we got some good material from all sides.

Various elements blended around the spectrum and added a nice sense of activity to the film. Stereo music also worked well, and this turned into a moderately vivid soundscape.

Audio quality seemed fine. Speech was crisp and distinctive, with no edginess or other concerns.

Music was full and rich, while effects came across as lively and accurate. The track boasted good low-end when appropriate. All of this was enough for a “B”.

We get a few extras, and the disc opens with an audio commentary from director Rob Cohen. He offers a running, screen-specific look at how he came to the project, story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, visual design, and related domains.

A competent but unexceptional director delivers a competent but unexceptional commentary. Though Cohen touches on a good array of topics and provides enough useful notes to maintain our attention, he also narrates the movie too much. That means this ends up as a perfectly worthwhile but never terrific track.

The Psychologist and the Butcher spans 14 minutes, seven seconds. It brings notes from Cohen, author James Patterson, producer Steve Bowen, and actors Tyler Perry, Ed Burns, and Matthew Fox.

“Butcher” examines the Alex Cross novels and their adaptation, story/characters, cast and performances, cinematography, and general thoughts. The featurette mixes decent insights with happy talk.

Four Deleted Scenes fill a total of five minutes, seven seconds. Outside of another sequence with “Pop-Pop”, these offer fairly forgettable extensions to existing segments and don’t add anything of note.

The disc opens with ads for The Cold Light of Day, Good Deeds, Man on a Ledge and Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection. No trailer for Cross appears here.

Tyler Perry attempted to broaden his cinematic horizons with Alex Cross, a major shift from his broad Madea comedies. Unfortunately, this effort flops, as Perry offers a dull performance in this forgettable, uncreative thriller. The Blu-ray comes with largely positive picture and audio as well as a few bonus materials. We never got a sequel to this reboot, and I can’t claim to feel bothered by that given the sub-mediocrity on display here.