I love Morgan Freeman. I think he is an incredible actor and I could watch him all day. He really manages to get inside his characters and make them become real. In ’’Along Came A Spider’’, he did not let me down, but I feel had to share the accolade for the best actor in the movie with a young girl named Mika Booren, who played Megan Rose. Expect to see more of this child in the future, she has start quality.
An adaptation of a novel by James Patterson, this movie has a fast-paced screenplay by Marc Moss and was produced by Joe Wizan and David Brown. Photography was by Matthew F. Leonetti, and the music by Jerry Goldstein.
To my mind, the only part of the movie that I did not like was the very beginning sequence. An undercover female agent is in a car with a suspect, wearing a camera, and with aerial back up, when the car crashes. The special effects were definitely sub-standard. Like something out of a video game. This was further reiterated when the car fell over the side of a bridge or dam (not very clear as to which) ... not good special effects at all. Very amateur.
But from then the movie quickly became engrossing with plenty of twists and turns, keeping you re-thinking your previous assumptions and your attentions from wandering. It didn’t feel like an hour and a half movie, you felt like you’d been watching for maybe 45 minutes, it just moved so smoothly and kept you so glued to the screen.
Morgan Freeman plays Dr. Alex Cross who is suffering from the loss of a partner and seems to have had a bad time of it for a few months. Despite Secret Service protection, the daughter of Senator Rose (Michael Moriarty) is kidnapped. Megan Rose (the very charming and incredible actress, Mika Booren) is a bright little girl who is used to imbedding secret messages in pictures to a classmate who is the son of the Russian President. Michael Wincott plays her teacher, Gary Soneji, who is not all he seems to be.
But then again, he is not the only one, apparently.
Megan’s kidnapper keeps her on his boat, the C-Dreamer, whilst toying with Alex Cross by disguised telephone calls. He profiles the kidnapper and makes certain assumptions, only to be caught unawares when the kidnapper apparently changes tactics.
Jezzie Flanagan, played by Monica Potter, is a young Secret Service agent at the school that Megan attended, and begs Dr. Cross to allow her to help him find Megan. She looks like a blonde Sandra Bullock, and has those expressive doe-like eyes that can tear at a moments notice. She and Dr. Cross pursue the kidnapper in the hope of finding Megan Rose.
As I said though, there are plenty of twists and turns in this movie and this does not tell you the whole story. For that, you will have to settle back with the popcorn and watch for yourself, but I do not think you will be disappointed.
Mika Booren gives a very real portrayal of the ingenious little girl who is kidnapped, and her array of emotions is spectacular. I was very impressed at the talent in one so young.
The only let-down was the special effects at the beginning of this, other than that, this movie is brilliant!