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Along Came a Spider

Play trailer 1:56 Poster for Along Came a Spider R Released Apr 6, 2001 1h 44m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
32% Tomatometer 125 Reviews 53% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
A psychological suspense thriller adapted from James Patterson's first highly acclaimed novel in the Alex Cross series, Morgan Freeman reprises his role as the Washington, D.C. police detective and psychologist who is through playing mind games with criminals -- that is until a methodical predator, Gary Soneji (Michael Wincott) commits a daring kidnapping and lures Cross into the case.
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Along Came a Spider

Along Came a Spider

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Critics Consensus

Derivative and contains too many implausible situations.

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Critics Reviews

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Nell Minow Common Sense Media Blood, violence, murder good Freeman, dumb plot. Rated: 2/5 Dec 21, 2010 Full Review Marrit Ingman Austin Chronicle Rated: 2.5/5 Mar 10, 2003 Full Review Peter Rainer New York Magazine/Vulture Even at half speed, Freeman excels: He knows how to whip out his badge at a crime scene and make it seem as if he had been doing it his whole life. Sep 26, 2002 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins What makes this series of films, based on James Patterson's novels, more effective than other run-of-the-mill thrillers is Morgan Freeman. Rated: 7/10 Sep 25, 2020 Full Review Mikel Zorrilla Espinof A thriller that ended the possibilities for Morgan Freeman as an unlikely star of a great franchise. [Full review in Spanish] Oct 3, 2016 Full Review Matt Brunson Creative Loafing Plotholes cripple the film. Rated: 2/4 Oct 17, 2015 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jacob B I think Kiss the Girls was better. This wasn't really a bad film but it felt like it did some things worse than that film. The preceding film did have a good-enough prologue establishing Alex Cross to the audience whilst this stand-alone sequel's cold open had a prologue that I think would've worked better if they were flashbacks, due to how disconnected it feels from the rest of the movie. Also, it had, even for 2001, a very obvious CGI car crash with the unnaturally fast-moving animation being a dead giveaway. Foreshadowing for this director's work on James Bond's first 21st-century cinematic adventure, perhaps? And the climax is similar to the first film where an apparent ally was evil all along. But Along Came a Spider is otherwise still a decent crime thriller with yet another terrific performance from Morgan Freeman, - shame he never did a third film - some genuinely good moments of suspense and good old-fashioned detective work and Michael Wincott making for a sinister, and memorable, villain. One of his first scenes where he's wearing a Mission Impossible-style mask was a bit far-fetched though. Especially since nothing outlandish ever shows up again. Also, give this film credit where it's due. The abducted girl at least tries her best to escape rather than being a generic little damsel in distress waiting for Alex Cross to come rescue her and even figuring out near the end that somebody's not being completely honest about their intentions. Overall, while I wouldn't call these great films, - to the point that their lack of any real pop culture impact put the kibosh on any chance of James Patterson novels getting wide, mainstream film adaptations, with only mini-majors and VOD companies being willing to greenlight movies based off of his work - these are passable crime thrillers, even if there are far superior options out there. And knowing how infamous the reputation of the Tyler Perry reboot is, I'm sure it makes this duology's merits stick out more. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/08/24 Full Review Dave C I loved this when I was younger. It is a good story, containing a number of twists, though the casting choices aren't the strongest - aside from MF of course, and this lets it down as it leaves things a bit woody in places Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/16/24 Full Review Cody W With so many plot twists left and right, I would assume that everybody would be pretty tired after what happened. Well, not for me! ALONG CAME A SPIDER kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire movie. I literally think that Morgan Freeman should really play Alex Cross again when he gets a chance. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/17/24 Full Review angela g really good movie i like this one Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/14/23 Full Review Alisson F Shallow plot, didn't make me feel anything whatsoever. 1 star because the actress was stunning. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 07/17/23 Full Review Jack O One thing I didn't know about this movie is that it's a sequel to Kiss the Girls. Why? Because Morgan Freeman plays a character named Alex Cross and then he has a partner, so I haven't seen Kiss the Girls but I will do sooner or later. Most of the viewers say that Along Came a Spider is not as good as the book and as many people would say, the book is WAY better than the film so I haven't read the book so I guess that this'll be better than the film if I read it. The story resembles around Alex Cross who is willing to rescue the school girl called Megan who is kidnapped by a brilliant psychopath, Gary Soneji played by Michael Wincott, who disguised himself as a teacher. OK, so what can I say about it? Well, honestly, I don't know. I mean it has some twists and turns that interests me and Michael Wincott is good as the villain. I guess I know what to expect, especially the ending. I wonder if I notice that this movie is not faithful to the book if it doesn't then the book would be better, so that's all I've got. But for what it is, this is not too bad. I don't think I can watch it again or maybe I can because I like the thrills and it left me on the edge of my seat so yeah, that's Along Came a Spider. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 06/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Along Came a Spider

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Cast & Crew

Under Suspicion 50% 48% Under Suspicion Watchlist The Score 74% 67% The Score Watchlist Kiss the Girls 34% 62% Kiss the Girls Watchlist Twisted 2% 31% Twisted Watchlist TRAILER for Twisted Double Jeopardy 28% 61% Double Jeopardy Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A psychological suspense thriller adapted from James Patterson's first highly acclaimed novel in the Alex Cross series, Morgan Freeman reprises his role as the Washington, D.C. police detective and psychologist who is through playing mind games with criminals -- that is until a methodical predator, Gary Soneji (Michael Wincott) commits a daring kidnapping and lures Cross into the case.
Director
Lee Tamahori
Producer
David Brown, Joe Wizan
Screenwriter
Marc Moss, James Patterson
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Phase 1 Productions, Paramount Pictures, Revelations Entertainment, David Brown Productions
Rating
R (Violence|Language)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 6, 2001, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 21, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA)
$74.1M
Runtime
1h 44m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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