U.S. MARSHALS (1998)

Directed by Stuart Baird. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley Snipes, Robert Downey, Jr., Joe Pantoliano, Daniel Roebuck, Tom  Wood, Irene Jacob, Kate Nelligan. Action/Drama.  Synopsis: The sequel to The Fugitive follows Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard and his group of deputies as they track another fugitive from justice who has deep ties to the intelligence community of the United States.

This is an underrated sequel to the hit movie The Fugitive, with the scene stealing Tommy Lee Jones back as Sam Gerard and his entire posse intact with one minor change. As much as everyone enjoyed Tommy Lee in the original (The "I want you to search every outhouse, henhouse, chicken house..." line is an all time classic), it seemed, to me, to make sense to bring him and his group back for another one because, with all due respect to the great Harrison Ford, a hell of an argument can be made that Jones and his scenes were the best part of the Fugitive. But, I think one of the reasons this flick is underrated is that people think of it, incorrectly in my view, as a sequel.

Of course, I understand why people do that, but to me, a sequel is a continuation or telling of something new directly related to the first film (more like a prequel). This movie is entirely different, with some of the characters from the first movie telling a different story with no relation or connection to the first. To borrow a phrase from television, this movie was more like a "spin off" to me, in the same way that Maud and The Jefferson's were spin offs of All in the Family.   So, for what that thought is worth, it's wrong to cast this as a sequel in my opinion and, since by definition sequels are only made when the first movie is a success and its very hard to go home again, sequels more often than not are less loved than their originals.

Be that as it may, U.S. Marshals is very good as a stand alone project, and there is no need to have seen the Fugitive to fully appreciate or enjoy the film, though if you did see the first, you will probably feel a little deeper kinship with the Marshal characters.

Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones Cobb) is back here, the same wisecracking, dedicated to his jog ace Marshal that we saw in the Fugitive, and this time he is on the trail of an elusive man named Mark (Wesley Snipes Passenger 57) who is wanted for the murder of a government agent. Mark is especially adept at hiding, and seems to avoid violence (Great line from this movie from Tommy Lee: "I'm trying to figure out why this guy keeps going out of his way not to kill people") and has a top shelf girlfriend (Irene Jacob) who he is obviously devoted to, so much so that the gang figures he will contact her sooner or later. 

Most of the rest of Sam's gang is back (Joe Pantoliano, Daniel Roebuck, Tom Wood) but there are a couple of important newcomers from the first movie. Kate Nelligan comes in as Sam's boss with her elegance and the implication of a past romance between the two, and Robert Downey Jr.(Chaplin) is agent specially assigned to this case that Sam just can't seem to take a shine to, so to speak. Well, for good reason, as we soon learn he has divided loyalties. 

There is more of a conspiratorial plot in this one than in the first, and much more pure action scenes from Snipes than with Harrison Ford as Dr. Kimble in the Fugitive.  Like the first one, we can expect the theme of the film to be the "good guy mistaken for the bad guy" thing, but, here, we are not totally sure that Mark is really a good guy, and we also have a good idea of who the bad guys are and one of them,  at least, is closer to Sam than he thinks. In the first one, we knew all the time that the hero was innocent, but didn't who the bad guys were or why they were until the end. That approach might be a little more effective for those who prefer at least a little twist with their flicks. But, to me, U.S. Marshals works fine because it is really an action film that could be mistaken for a drama, while the Fugitive was really a drama that could have been mistaken for an action film.

The whole thing revolves around Jones and Snipes and they both deliver, especially Jones, who goes from being a scene stealing supporting character to leading man with ease, which is not easy. Maybe even harder was Snipes' job, to essentially "replace" Harrison Ford as the one running from Jones. I wonder if the cool scene where Snipes bungee jumps from a skyscraper onto a moving train is more of a homage to Ford's waterfall plunge in the Fugitive or just action hero Wesley being Wesley?   Maybe a little bit of both.

The bottom line, U.S Marshals is a good movie that might not be quite as good as its predecessor, but that's o.k. if you go into understanding that its two separate movies telling separate stories, which will be easier if you are one of the few people who did not see the first. Also, special kudos on the special features for those of you who are thinking of getting the DVD, there is an excellent feature on the history of the U.S. Marshals, which will be interesting for all who like to know these sorts of things.