U.S. MARSHALS

This film scores a measly 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, yet Clay Keller (the creator of the wonderful Screen Drafts podcast) rates it one of the best action films of the 1990s.  Who's right?

Well, it's a little from column A and a little from column B.

The critics were a bit harsh, maybe because inevitably they were comparing it with its predecessor 'The Fugitive'.  On the other hand it barely passes muster as a way of whiling away a couple of hours.

To describe it as a sequel to the aforementioned Harrison Ford blockbuster is misleading since its only connection is the presence again of Tommy Lee Jones as US Deputy Marshal Sam Gerard.

We should be thankful for that since he is the best part of this film.  It's a pleasure again to see him barking decisive orders at his team.

The main difference between the two films is that the former had a fugitive hero we could easily identify with and root for, a civilian wrongly accused of a terrible crime, whereas here Wesley Snipes is a government agent who was formerly some sort of black-ops expert who has been set up as part of some scheme whereby some mole is selling US secrets to a foreign government.  

Rooting for Snipes is made more difficult because he did commit the two murders he is wanted for (both government agents) but supposedly it was self-defence.   I say 'supposedly' because the fuzzy footage we see is as clear as mud.  And fuzzy is a good word to describe the entire plot which I could not get too invested in.  

'The Fugitive' also benefitted from a memorable villain, the one-armed man, who Kimble needs to track down.  Here we get some anonymous Chinese dude.

In the absence of a strong fugitive and of a strong villain, necessarily Gerard has to take centre stage more, but instead of seeing more of him employing his investigative skills we get to see him doing a lot more action stuff, which is not really playing to Tommy Lee Jones' strengths.

Robert Downey Jr plays a major part in the film but he is very subdued and doesn't bring much to the party.

It's a shame to see Irene Jacob wasted as Snipes' girlfriend and Kate Nelligan wasted as Gerard's boss.