U.S. Marshals Review

The Fugitive is a hard act to follow -- U.S. Marshals tries with only moderate success. Tommy Lee Jones reprises his role as U.S. Marshal Gerard who, this time around, is chasing escaped prisoner Mark Roberts - Wesley Snipes. Roberts, a towtruck operator, has been arrested for the murder of two government agents in New York. On a Con-Air type flight back to the big apple, along with other mean looking prisoners plus Gerard, there`s an attempt on Robert`s life by another prisoner and as a result the plane crashes. Roberts uses his chance to run and prove his innocence. But it seems that Roberts had a previous identity ... hence the interest of the CIA and agent John Royce - Robert Downey Jr..The trouble with U.S. Marshals is that it reworks old ground slavishly but really not as well... the plane crash is pretty spectacular, but not a patch on the train crash in The Fugitive. There is also a leap onto a speeding train, but it lacks the impact of Harrison Ford`s desperate jump over the falls. And conspiracy theories don`t have the same personalised impact as a man wrongly accused of murdering his wife. Director Stuart Baird does a workmanlike job with U.S. marshals but he doesn`t have the cinematic flair of Andrew Davis. Wesley Snipes is once again paired with a white actress, (another European, Irene Jacob) as his romantic interest. He`s solid, she is wasted. Tommy Lee Jones is as always ... solid ... and Robert Downey Jr, looking leaner and more handsome than he has in a while, does fine with some smug lines. But there are not too many surprises in this, even the bad guy is obvious before we`re too far into the picture. It`s exciting but it`s just not fresh enough.