U.S. Marshals (1998)

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Tommy Lee Jones reprises his Oscar-winning role from The Fugitive, once again tracking down a man on the run. And once again that man happens to be innocent. Jones doesn’t know that, but we do. You’d think maybe this time the guy could be guilty. Just to shake things up a bit. Oh, well.

Instead of Harrison Ford as the innocent accused, this time we get Wesley Snipes. Snipes ain’t no Ford, and the film doesn’t really want to play from his perspective very well. It’s very much a vehicle for Jones. You never care about Snipes’ character even a fraction as much as you cared about Ford’s in the first film. What’s worse, is that Jones’ character is also more boring this time around.

U.S. Marshals is a non-stop action movie full of plane crashes and all kinds of cat-and-mouse chase sequences. But there’s very little character development and few grace notes. Even Jerry Goldsmith’s score seems repetitive and boring. Robert Downey, Jr. offers about three minutes worth of interesting screen-time, and Kate Nelligan makes the most out of her role as Jones’ boss. But there’s little else to keep your interest here.