Movie Review for Along Came A Spider

Summary: Washington, D.C. homicide detective Alex Cross is through playing mind games with criminals--that is until a methodical predator, Gary Soneji kidnaps the young daughter of a United States senator from an elite school and lures Cross into the case. Soneji's not out for ransom, he wants something much bigger--a place in the history books. His every move is planned with the precision of a spider spinning his web, and Cross and secret service agent Jezzie Flannigan are in a race against time to stop him.

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel of 3BlackChicks Review (7/0)
            I wish spider had brought a plot along with it.

By Carlo Cavagna of AboutFilm.com (7/0)
            a slick product conceived in the executive conference room of some Hollywood studio, not in the m...

By Mike McGranaghan of Aisle Seat (7/0)
            As with a magic show, you know you are being fooled but you sit back and enjoy the illusion anywa...

By Brian Webster of Apollo Guide (7/0)
            A movie that thinks it’s pretty smart but is really too dumb to hold together beyond its first fe...

By Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of Atlanta Journal-Constitution (6/1)
            Good solid entertainment.

By Neil Smith of BBC (7/0)
            Freeman always gives good value and the result is never less than watchable.

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
            Man, are you gonna be talking when you come out of this movie! Saying things like 'but why...' an...

By Margaret A. McGurk of Cincinnati Enquirer (7/0)
            Director Lee Tamahori and screenwriter Marc Moss treat their star (and his character) with all du...

By David Keyes of Cinemaphile.org (7/0)
            ...so little makes sense and so much is left up to speculation that there isn't even an urge to g...

By Karina Montgomery of Cinerina (7/0)
            If Alex Cross is so intuitive and brilliant, why is he making a movie like this? It hurts me to ...

By Paul Clinton (CNN.com) of CNN.com (7/0)
            It may be chock-full of psychological elements, but it's neither suspenseful nor thrilling.

By Harvey S. Karten of Compuserve (7/0)
            Psych 101 meets Phil. 101 in a sophomoric thriller.

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By John J. Puccio of DVDTown.com (7/0)
            ...does little to enhance the reputation of mystery thrillers in general and little to solidify F...

By Erik Childress of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            Where Kiss the Girls fell apart in the last ten minutes, Along Came a Spider unweaves in the enti...

By Scott Weinberg of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            Obviously under the impression that their audience lacks the common sense of a kiwi, the filmmake...

By Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly (7/0)
            Along Came a Spider moves at a taut, well-metered pace, one that allows for scenes of psychologic...

By Eric D. Snider of EricDSnider.com (7/0)
            The plot twists come in the final 30 minutes, and while they are entertaining, they're also ludic...

By Eugene Novikov of Film Blather (7/0)
            The film is never less than a guilty pleasure, but it leaves you unsatisfied and hungry for closu...

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By Walter Chaw of Film Freak Central (7/0)
            You begin to feel like the butt of some absurd joke or embroiled in a wilfully obscure Buddhist k...

By Bruce Feld of Film Journal International (7/0)
            It is Lee Tamahori's taut pacing -- not to mention Neil Travis' exceptional editing -- that gives...

By Norm Schrager of filmcritic.com (7/0)
            Flat and derivative.

By Rob Vaux of Flipside Movie Emporium (7/0)
            With the post-Silence glut of serial killer films, it takes a lot to make an impression, and Alon...

By Ross Anthony of Hollywood Report Card (7/0)
            Though a web is one of nature's most fascinating spectacles, watching a spider weave one can be l...

By Louis B. Parks of Houston Chronicle (7/0)
            If you tend to really analyze thrillers, and then get bugged when there are gaps in logic, save y...

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By Steve Rhodes of Internet Reviews (7/0)
            From the gripping action sequence that opens the movie until the last twist, director Tamahori ke...

By Liz Braun of Jam! Movies (7/0)
            A perfect example of satisfying Hollywood entertainment on the big screen.

By JoBlo of JoBlo's Movie Emporium (7/0)
            Sadly, it just falls apart under its own overbearing weight of irrationality.

By Robert Roten of Laramie Movie Scope (7/0)
            Aside from Cross and Rose, none of the other characters in the film are very interesting.

By Jon Niccum of Lawrence Journal-World (7/0)
            [Lee]Tamahori keeps the pacing lively enough that he doesn't allow the audience time to linger on...

By Mark Dujsik of Mark Reviews Movies (7/0)
            Gives Morgan Freeman a chance to once and for all prove that he could walk through a garbage heap...

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By Jorge Avila Andrade of Moviola (7/0)
            Se puede ver, pero sin buscarle mayor información o profundidad. Simplemente para pasar el rato.

By Michael Dequina of Mr. Brown's Movies (7/0)
            Sinks the fledgling franchise to new depths--and quite possibly past the point of no return.

By Peter Rainer of New York Magazine (7/0)
            Even at half speed, Freeman excels: He knows how to whip out his badge at a crime scene and make ...

By Jim Chastain of Norman Transcript (7/0)
            Cliche-ridden, driven by formula, and often just plain stupid.

By Frank Swietek of One Guy's Opinion (7/0)
            A thoroughly enjoyable piece of hokum, a spiffily-directed nail-biter with twists that should mak...

By Dennis Schwartz of Ozus' World Movie Reviews (7/0)
            There are just too many holes in the plotline of this hollow thriller for it to be convincing.

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By Jon Popick of Planet Sick-Boy (7/0)
            A silly, clichéd disappointment.

By Cynthia Fuchs of PopMatters (7/0)
            More of the same.

By James Kendrick of Q Network Film Desk (7/0)
            certainly competent as a suspense thriller, but it never achieves any level beyond that

By David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews (7/0)
            Along Came a Spider isn't a smart thriller like Se7en or Copycat; instead, it's more of a watchab...

By Mary Kalin-Casey of Reel.com (7/0)
            Spider revisits too many worn-out tuffets.

By Betty Jo Tucker of ReelTalk Movie Reviews (7/0)
            Is it too much to ask for reasonable explanations of human behavior in a psychological thriller?

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By James Berardinelli of ReelViews (7/0)
            Sink under the weight of its own preposterousness despite the best efforts of the always-effectiv...

By Jack Garner of Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (7/0)
            Unlike Kiss the Girls, which was strongest in the first half and then got sloppy, Spider maintain...

By Peter Travers of Rolling Stone (7/0)
            Hollywood has screwed up again, big-time.

By Tom Grealis of RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) (7/0)
            Enjoyment, or even tolerance, of 'Along Came A Spider' hangs upon a couple of plot twists, which ...

By Jim Lane of Sacramento News & Review (7/0)
            In movies like this, plot twists can make you gasp, 'Of course!' or they can make you snort, 'Oh,...

By Charles Taylor of Salon.com (7/0)
            A dreary, ludicrous thriller.

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By Jim Judy of Screen It! (7/0)
            The same old Hollywood hooey.

By William Arnold of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/0)
            A first-rate detective story that never tries to exploit its situation for cheap thrills.

By Rob Blackwelder of SPLICEDWire (7/0)
            The kind of movie with so many suspension of disbelief high hurdles that any police officer, fede...

By Tony Toscano of Talking Pictures (U.S.) (7/0)
            What this overly formulaic mystery never delivers is any insight into its characters or valid plo...

By Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone of TheMovieChicks.com (6/1)
            I felt like I was kidnapped and forced to watch this drek as punishment.

By Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide's Movie Guide (7/0)
            If Michael Wincott -- who under normal circumstances can chill your blood just by breathing -- ca...

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today (7/0)
            Like a paperback plucked from a counter at an airport, Spider is an impulse buy of a film, a time...

By Michael O'Sullivan of Washington Post (7/0)
            Freeman's performance -- one of laserlike perspicacity shining through eyes made narrow by a laco...

By Ted Murphy of Baseline.Hollywood.com (3/4) No reference
            Along Came a Spider is a popcorn flick, a modest and entertaining thriller.

By David Lawrence of Boxoffice Magazine (3/4) No reference
            Though somewhat marginally more engaging that its predecessor, Along Came a Spider falls into man...

By Louis B. Hobson of Calgary Sun (3/4) No reference
            An ingenious thriller.

By Michael Wilmington of Chicago Tribune (3/4) No reference
            Freeman -- and even Alex Cross -- deserve better employment.

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By Arne Johnson of Citysearch (3/4) No reference
            A trick ending isn't enough to save Spider from a slow narrative death.

By Vera H-C Chan of Contra Costa Times (3/4) No reference
            Really, if you're not here for Freeman, you might as well back out of that turnstile and go home.

By Scott Von Doviak of culturevulture.net (3/4) No reference
            Spins its formulaic web like a black widow on automatic pilot.

By Christopher Tookey of Daily Mail [UK] (3/4) No reference
            It's a good-looking, mostly well-acted but preposterously plotted movie.

By Garth Franklin of Dark Horizons (3/4) No reference
            The movie is only so-so.

By Jeff Vice of Deseret News, Salt Lake City (6/1) No reference
            A rather uninvolving thriller that's only a slight improvement on its predecessor.

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By Steve Tilley of Edmonton Sun (3/4) No reference
            Not even the cables on the Golden Gate Bridge would be able to suspend enough disbelief to make A...

By Ron Wells of Film Threat (3/4) No reference
            The best I can say is that this was a relatively inoffensive way to pass a couple of hours, but a...

By Donald Munro of Fresno Bee (3/4) No reference
            A smooth, lightweight, disposable outing.

By Greg Dean Schmitz of Greg's Previews at Yahoo! Movies (3/4) No reference
            ...what surprised me, however is that ACAS knows about the [criminal mastermind] stereotype... an...

By Dave White of IFilm (3/4) No reference
            You Should Pay Nine Bucks for This If: You like rolling your eyes at this sort of hooey and sayin...

By James Sanford of James Sanford on Film (6/1) No reference
            so hell-bent on surprising us that it's willing to sacrifice just about anything -- logic, credib...

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By Marshall Fine of Journal News (Westchester, NY) (3/4) No reference
            It's as if Moss has studied every bad cop show on TV since the beginning of the medium, then dist...

By John Patterson of L.A. Weekly (3/4) No reference
            Freeman, as always, is a still center of dependable calm and intelligence, but Potter registers o...

By Bob Strauss of Los Angeles Daily News (3/4) No reference
            Artful restraint in presentation can't counterbalance the lunacy of Along Came a Spider's content...

By Kenneth Turan of Los Angeles Times (3/4) No reference
            Reasonably diverting.

By Mack Bates of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (3/4) No reference
            A nail biter so meticulous in its plotting and so intoxicating in its marathon-like pacing that o...

By Nell Minow of Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies (6/1) No reference
            The final twist is just plain dumb, and neither the performers nor the script's explanation of th...

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By Michael Elliott of Movie Parables (3/4) No reference
            A slighly above average potboiler which is disappointing only because the ingredients were presen...

By Mark Ramsey of MovieJuice! (3/4) No reference
            To quote Monica, 'this is worse than killing time.'

By Cody Clark of Mr. Showbiz (3/4) No reference
            On some level, nearly every thriller asks viewers to suspend their disbelief. Along Came a Spider...

By Jonathan Foreman of New York Post (3/4) No reference
            From the very beginning of the movie, irritating implausibilities speckle Mark Moss' script.

By John Anderson of Newsday (3/4) No reference
            Thoroughly surprising and far from unsatisfactory.

By Barry Johnson of Oregonian (3/4) No reference
            For the 'fraidy-cat film reviewer, Along Came a Spider is the perfect thriller.

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By Jay Boyar of Orlando Sentinel (3/4) No reference
            Along Came a Spider is watchable, but that's about all.

By Jay Stone of Ottawa Citizen (3/4) No reference
            Along Came A Spider weaves a somewhat ramshackle web, but it will probably keep you watching.

By Joe Baltake of Sacramento Bee (3/4) No reference
            Freeman makes everyone look good.

By David Elliott of San Diego Union-Tribune (3/4) No reference
            The story never works on any level but the glossy, manipulative surface.

By Pam Sitt of Seattle Times (3/4) No reference
            Taken at face value, the film is entertaining, exciting at times and fun to watch.

By Tom Sander of South Florida Sun-Sentinel (3/4) No reference
            Delivers a good share of suspense, thrills and psychological goose bumps.

                         Reviews of Along Came A Spider
By Chris Hewitt (St. Paul) of St. Paul Pioneer Press (3/4) No reference
            Along Came a Spider is much like its star: methodical, smooth, unflashy.

By Mark Dinning of Empire Magazine (3/4) Not Reachable
            In terms of plotting, it's hardly breaking new ground, but spare a thought nonetheless for Morgan...

Movie Distributors
Paramount Pictures

Production Companies
Phase I Productions
Revelations Entertainment
Manhattan Project

Movie Studios
(USA): Paramount Pictures