U.S. Marshals (1998) * * *

Directed by:  Stuart Baird

Starring:  Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley Snipes, Robert Downey Jr., Joe Pantoliano, Kate Nelligan, Irene Jacob

U.S. Marshals is not The Fugitive and doesn't need to be.    Tommy Lee Jones returns to his Oscar-winning role from The Fugitive as U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard.     This time he is chasing a fugitive whose innocence may be a little murkier than Dr. Richard Kimble's.    The fugitive is Mark Sheridan (Snipes), a government black ops agent forced to kill other treacherous agents when an undercover deal goes bad.     Something to do with top secret documents.    Who is to know?     Sheridan insists he killed in self-defense.     A government agent (Downey) assigned to tag along with Gerard's team feels differently.     

Jones once again plays Gerard effectively.    As in The Fugitive, he gradually becomes convinced of his prey's innocence, but still must catch him because that is what he does.     There are no face-to-face moments like Gerard had with Kimble in the tunnel.     ("I didn't kill my wife."   "I don't care.")
He doggedly pursues Sheridan and has his moments of cragginess with his staff.     He maintains an informal, but constructive working relationship with his team, working with an easy familiarity.    As in The Fugitive, Gerard's team may be behind, but not far behind.     Snipes is a sympathetic figure even though he is obviously much more physically capable than Dr. Kimble.     He can fight or shoot his way out of things, while Kimble relied more on ingenuity and humanity.     Nonetheless, we care about the outcome, making U.S. Marshals not a simple retread.

U.S. Marshals is full of chases, shootouts, and fisticuffs.    It is more action-oriented than its predecessor (although this film is not technically a sequel, but a further adventure involving Gerard).    The plane crash from which Sheridan first escapes is handled well.    Other shadowy figures lurk, including a Chinese would-be assassin who continually misses on chances to kill Snipes.    And who exactly is Sheridan looking for?    We know someone wants him dead before he can uncover the conspiracy that's afoot.  

Taken for what it is, U.S. Marshals gets the job done.     It doesn't make the mistake of trying to hard to be The Fugitive (very few movies are).     It gives us one more fugitive for Gerard to catch and one more opportunity to see such an interesting character onscreen again.     Sometimes that's all you need.