Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2013

Cross-dressing comic actor Tyler Perry may not be the best choice for a cinematic reboot of formulaic author James Patterson’s forensic-psychologist super-detective franchise (Morgan Freeman has played Cross twice), but he certainly is the worst. Madea chasing bad guys would have been more believable, not to mention less painful to watch. This dismal, disjointed mess makes no sense, is horribly scripted, carelessly directed (by The Fast and the Furious Rob Cohen), poorly acted, and boring. Note to fatso Jean Reno: Retire. Perry’s still doing comedy, it seems; only now it’s unintentional.