U.S. Marshals

An ultimately futile attempt to make lightning strike twice, this so-called spin-off from 1993's blockbuster The Fugitive avoids the label of "sequel" by forging ahead without the first film's star, Harrison Ford. The idea is to showcase the return of Tommy Lee Jones in his Oscar-winning role as tenacious U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard, this time testing his mettle against a covert government operative (Wesley Snipes) accused of murdering two secret service attachés. Unfortunately, Jones and the entire cast have been trapped in a rambling plot, and the underdog status that made Ford such a compelling hero is sacrificed to an evenly matched and eventually tiresome game of cat and mouse, with a villain whose identity is far too predictable. With no dramatic build-up and several superfluous characters to distract its focus, the film's momentum plays out like a rote exercise compared to the high stakes of the earlier film. --Jeff Shannon