Do you like detective series? Do you like anti-heroes? Then you should jump on “Cross”, the latest production from Prime Video to which we owe the excellent “Reacher”.
What is it about?
Alex Cross is a loving but desperate family man since the murder of his wife. He has only one obsession: finding the killers.
Who is it with?
If you didn't know his name, it will be done with Cross: actor Aldis Hodge (Hawkman in Black Adam) is THE star of this new Prime Video production. He plays opposite Isaiah Mustafa (Shadowhunters) in the role of his future partner, as well as Ryan Eggold who plays a rich patron hiding many secrets…
The return of a hero
Fans of American thrillers certainly know his name: Alex Cross. Paper hero imagined by James Patterson in 1992, this police officer with a psychology degree has already been played on screen by Morgan Freeman in the duology The Collector and The Mask of the Spider.
In each of these two films, Cross pursues a serial killer whose profile he must first establish before catching him.
It is this time in the form of a series that the adventures of the Washington police officer are back. Exit Freeman (and Tyler Perry in a very forgettable film released in 2012), it is the (very) muscular Aldis Hodge who slips into the raincoat of this hero who has a lot of personal problems to deal with.
Prime Video
The Prime Video version makes him an inspector who lost his wife in mysterious circumstances and sees ghosts from his past haunting him. The first season of the series, which does not adapt a particular book but which invents a story, sees him pursue the Fanboy, a serial killer who is inspired by the greatest American criminals.
His interpreter Ryan Eggold, seen in New Amsterdam and Blacklist, is particularly disturbing in the role of this dandy with funny fantasies. Cross' investigation and his appetite for psychology allow spectators to learn a little more about this antagonist who reveals himself from the start.
The idea is not to know who the killer is but why he does what he does.
A series for fans of the genre
We should not compare Cross to Reacher, the platform's other big production, since the only thing the two have in common is that they feature a character who suffers from the hero complex. Don't expect an action series but more psychology and suspense.
We could criticize Cross for its form, which lacks modernity, and its substance, which still remains classic. The series more closely resembles what we see on American television than a production for a platform.
But where this adaptation tries to stand out is its way of echoing American news and the movement Black Lives Matter. It shows very well the distrust of the African-American population towards the police and how the latter cope with it. And in any case she found a necessary ally in Cross.
Cross, 8 episodes to watch on Prime Video.
