U.S. Marshals 3/25/98
"I didn't kill my wife!" Dr. Richard Kimble shouts to his pursuer Marshal Sam Gerard, who responds "I don't care!", right before Richard jumps from a pipe into a river hundreds of feet below. This is a classic scene from a great movie, 1993's The Fugitive. Now five years later the sequel to that blockbuster movie comes to theaters, does it measure up to its predecessor? In short: NO.
The plot follows the original all too well. Here we have a innocent man, Mark Sheridan(Wesley Snipes), who escapes from prison in a plane crash, luckily left unguarded by the fearless Sam Gerard(Tommy Lee Jones). Since Sam has a lot of experience in man hunts, he is put in charge of the chase, with one small addition to his team, Special Agent John Royce(Robert Downey Jr.). Along the way Sam discovers Mark's innocence and attempts to unravel a government conspiracy.
The movie's plot is almost laughable, a ex-government agent framed for two murders? Yea that's realism for you. Robery Downey Jr. and Wesley Snipes' performances were conventional and uninteresting. If the movie had attempted to do something different, like a character study on Sam Gerard it would have been a lot better. The Fugitive had a nice buffer between the crime and the escape, we got to know Richard Kimble before he was being pursued, we didn't know Mark when he escaped so the audience had no feeling for him. Don't bother seeing this film, just re-watch the original, more entertaining film.
Grade: D ------------------------------ Ryan Davis rjdavis@shore.intercom.net -------------------------------- Movie Reviews and More: http://www.intercom.net/user/rjdavis/
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