***Pedestrian, but competent, sequel to “The Fugitive”*** Released in 1998, “U.S. Marshals” is the sequel to the 1993 hit “The Fugitive.” Tommy Lee Jones returns as Federal Marshal Samuel Gerard. He & his team hunt down an escaped prisoner named Sheridan (Wesley Snipes) from wilderness regions to the streets of New York City. Robert Downey Jr. is on hand as a Defense Security Service agent who assists the marshals. This sequel makes you realize just how well-done “The Fugitive” is. It features the same basic plot, but without most of the magic. The first act with the plane crash & swamp sequence is decent but it doesn’t hold a candle to bus crash/train wreck & dam sequence of the prior flick. Snipes is effective, but his character doesn’t evoke the sympathy of Kimble (Ford) because for most of the movie we don’t know if he’s innocent or not. Nevertheless, if you’re in the mood for a movie cut from the same cloth as “The Fugitive,” “Enemy of the State” (1998) and “Con Air” (1997) then “U.S. Marshals” should fill the bill, but it’s the least of these. I’d put it on par with “Patriot Games” (1992) and “Money Train” (1995). The film runs 2 hours, 11 minutes and was shot in Tennessee (Reelfoot Lake), Kentucky (Benton), Illinois (Chicago, Bay City, West Vienna, Metropolis & Shawneetown) and New York City. GRADE: B-/C+

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Hot on the heels of “Con Air” (1997) this time it’s Tommy Lee Jones who finds himself in charge of flying a load of dangerous villains. His “Sam” is charged with transporting “Sheridan” (Wesley Snipes), but when a bit of onboard fisticuffs results in a forced landing, his charge behaves in an altogether different fashion to that expected before skedaddling. Hot on his heels, our intrepid deputy marshal soon begins to suspect what we have already clocked - that something about this whole thing smells and that perhaps the fleeing felon isn’t exactly the criminal everyone assumed he was. With their cat and mouse game gathering pace amidst some pretty dense woodland, “Sam” realises strings are being pulled and trust soon becomes at a premium, especially with his new partner “Royce” (Robert Downey Jr.). The scenario helps it out a bit and both Jones and Snipes are proficient, but the story is just too join-the-dots and it’s relatively easy for us watching to deduce from quite early on what’s going on, and what’s bound to happen as the denouement edges closer. If you’ve seen “The Fugitive” from five years earlier, you might spot one or two similarities that really just render this little better than a vehicle for a star who is going through the motions. Passes the time, but that’s about it.

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