Director: Stuart Baird
Genre(s): Action, Crime, Thriller
Runtime: 131 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
The 1993 action-thriller The Fugitive seems like an unlikely movie to get a sequel, but get one it did. A man named Sheridan (Wesley Snipes), who’s been accused of murdering two government agents, has escaped from police custody, and – you guessed it – U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones) is on the case. It certainly isn’t as masterful as The Fugitive, but it’s a better-than-serviceable film that keeps my attention.
This one is a tad different from the original Samuel Gerard movie in that it’s not clear if the fugitive being pursued is innocent or not. Okay, it’s not exactly a wildly unpredictable ride, but it has enough ambiguous situations to keep one’s interest. The whole cast does a good job, but, as you’d expect, Tommy Lee Jones is the standout here as a gruff, yet protective, lawman.
U.S. Marshals tries to outdo the action in the first film with mixed results. Sure, the action set-pieces are probably bigger in scale than most of the ones in The Fugitive, but this one lacks some of the human drama of the 1993 flick. The most memorable sequence in the 1998 picture has got to be the part where circumstances allow Wesley Snipes’ character to escape from the law in the first place (I’m not going to spoil the details of it). There are a few other good action bits here, but they probably won’t stick in your head like some of the ones from The Fugitive.
Yeah, U.S. Marshals might contain a slightly slow section or two (making it less relentless than the 1993 production that it’s a sequel to), but it will still satisfy many viewers who were left wanting more (in a good sort of way) by The Fugitive. Earth-shattering it is not, but there’s enough mayhem here to keep an action buff amused for two hours. It’s not exactly a necessary sequel, but, despite lacking the Harrison Ford factor, it’s one worth watching for fans of the original.
My rating is 7 outta 10.
The Film Heretic Watches a Classic 