Tommy Lee Jones returns as Samuel Gerard, the relentless deputy marshal who pursued Harrison Ford’s Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive (1993). This time he is chasing Mark Sheridan, played by Wesley Snipes, and the chase is not just about a fugitive. It is about a man who believes he was betrayed by his own government. The film is a sequel, a franchise entry, and a vehicle for Jones to reprise a role that made him a star. It is also a mess.
Trailer, via Warner Bros. Rewind.
A Plane Crashes, A Fugitive Escapes
The setup is simple. Gerard is escorting a plane full of convicts from Chicago to New York. The plane crashes spectacularly, and Sheridan escapes. That is the engine of the plot, and it drives the film for about ten minutes before the story starts to unravel.
Sheridan is not just another murderer. He is a former government agent who claims he was betrayed in New York. He kills two Diplomatic Security Service agents during a briefcase exchange in a United Nations parking garage, and the murders are caught on security camera. He escapes with top-secret files. The film wants you to believe this is a bigger conspiracy than the last one, but it never quite delivers on that promise.
Royce Joins the Hunt
John Royce, played by Robert Downey Jr., is assigned to help Gerard recapture Sheridan. Royce is a Diplomatic Security agent, and Gerard grows suspicious that Royce is concealing information about Sheridan and the murders. The suspicion is the film’s central tension, but it is never resolved in a way that feels earned.
Royce’s character is meant to be a foil to Gerard, a man from a different agency who has his own motives. The problem is that Royce is a blank slate. Downey Jr. brings energy to the role, but there is nothing underneath it. He is a handsome face, not a character.
The Chase Through Kentucky
Gerard and his team corner Sheridan in a Kentucky swamp. Sheridan wounds Gerard and retreats. The chase sequence is the film’s best moment, but it is also the shortest. It ends quickly, and the film moves on to its weakest stretch.
A Betrayal Worth Nothing
Sheridan calls his girlfriend Marie Bineaux, played by Irène Jacob, and explains that he was a government agent until he was betrayed in New York. That is the core of his story, and it is never expanded beyond that single phone call. The film trusts the audience to care, but it never gives the audience a reason to care.
Marie is a supporting character, and she is barely developed. She is a love interest, a hostage, and a witness, and the film treats her as all three at once without bothering to distinguish between them.
The Mechanics Die and the Zip Gun Investigation
Gerard’s team tracks down the mechanic who concealed the zip gun for the Chinese assassin on the plane. They find him dead, murdered by Chen, played by Michael Paul Chan. This is a plot thread that goes nowhere. The mechanic’s murder is a red herring, and the film spends time on it that it could have spent better elsewhere.
The DSS agents then investigate the zip gun, which leads Gerard to review the security footage from the UN garage. That footage eventually offers some closure on the murders, but the investigation itself is underdeveloped and feels like padding.
The Parking Garage Footage
Gerard reviews the security footage from the UN garage and discovers that Sheridan’s exchange with Chen was intercepted by the DSS agents. Sheridan acted in self-defense, and the film finally offers some closure on the murders. It is too late.
The ending is a shrug. Sheridan is captured, Gerard gets his man, and the film moves on to its credits. There is no epilogue, no aftermath, no sense that anyone has learned anything.
A Sequel Without a Soul
U.S. Marshals is a sequel, but it lacks the spark that made the original work. The plot is thin, the characters are shallow, and the stakes are never made clear. It is a film about a man hunting a fugitive, but it never captures the electricity of that premise.
Jones is the one constant. He is still the best actor in the film, and he carries scenes that would sink lesser performers. His Gerard is still relentless, still obsessive, still the man who will not stop. But even he cannot save this movie.
The film is also marred by a runtime that is too long. At 131 minutes, it drags in stretches, especially in the middle section where the mechanics die and the DSS agents investigate the zip gun. The pacing suffers, and the film loses momentum.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
The film grossed $57 million in its domestic run. That is a modest success, but it is not a failure. The international release added $45 million, bringing the worldwide total to $102.4 million against a budget of $45 million. The film was a co-production of Warner Bros. Pictures and Kopelson Entertainment, and the score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith.
Those numbers tell you everything you need to know about the film’s reception. It made money, but it did not leave a mark. It was a product, not an art object. It was a sequel that cashed in on a name, and it did not bother to earn its keep.
Key Facts
- Runtime: 131 minutes
- Domestic gross: $57 million
- International gross: $45 million
- Worldwide total: $102.4 million
- Budget: $45 million
- Release date: March 6, 1998
- Home video release: July 21, 1998
The film is not worth your time. It is a sequel that fails to live up to its predecessor, and it fails to stand on its own. It is a hollow exercise in brand extension, and it leaves you feeling less than satisfied.
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