Along Came a Spider [2001]

June 12, 2024

After watching the first movie in the Alex Cross universe, Kiss The Girls it was time for the second one. This is a stand-alone sequel you can watch without ever knowing what happened in the original. In fact, the story here is taking place before the events in Kiss The Girls, if we’re going by the order of when the books were published. Along Came a Spider is a contrived and heavy-handed but still mildly entertaining thriller featuring incredibly strong leads. Something I found quite surprising when I saw that the director is Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors). Then again, he did direct xXx: State of the Union.

We will be following Alex Cross, a forensic psychologist, who’s contacted by a man who just kidnapped the senator’s daughter. Why he did that is a mystery. Moreover, no one seems to be able to figure out why he’s doing all of this in the first place. And so it begins, a game of cat and mouse between Dr. Cross and Gary Soneji, the kidnapper holding poor Megan hostage. However, before we get to the main story, we simply have to go through the obligatory death of a partner. The entire first third of the movie feels incredibly contrived and heavy-handed, as I already mentioned. I actually laughed out loud during some of the more “heart-felt” scenes.

The whole kidnapper thing feels like a direct copy of Dirty Harry. Although I have to admit that I didn’t see a couple of twists that basically saved the movie in the last third. There are two more reasons why you should watch Along Came A Spider. Their names are Morgan Freeman and Michael Wincott. While we all know and love Morgan, Wincott is one of those woefully underrated actors who deserve our appreciation. I loved him in The Crow but I absolutely adored him in Alien Ressurection. His charisma, deep voice, and subtelness with which he plays these dark and complex characters. The man is a force of nature.

We’ll also have the opportunity to see young Anton Yelchin and perpetually worried Dylan Baker. Monica Potter was barely acceptable as Jezzie but in the end, she pulled through. Technically speaking, Along Came a Spider is a good movie. I loved the cinematography and the production values were quite good. After all, the budget was just under $30 million without many stunts, explosions, and big money spenders. Since I haven’t read the original novel written by James Patterson, I can’t tell you if he was the one who used this new thing called the Internet so strongly in the plot.

Whatever the case is, the whole thing was just delightful. Like you’re watching an educational film from the eighties complete with people explaining different formats like GIFs and other stuff. This brings me to the kids who behaved like forty-year-old secret agents and not a couple of pre-teens. Not only did they know everything about hacking and encryptions but they’re also great at improvising and evading secret agents. It’s like I’m watching fucking Cody Banks or some shit. However, all of these elements came off more as a funny distraction than an irritating nuisance.

And, if we’re listing positives, and we are, I would also like to add good pacing and a short running time. Luckily, we also didn’t have to watch Dr. Cross hook up with anyone. And you know me and my burning hatred for those forced romantic subplots. So, in the end, Along Came a Spider is a watchable time-killer and a charming blast from the past. And just so you know, the story is completely different in the novel.