U.S. Marshals



U.S. Marshals is a 1998 type 2 Spin-Off to The Fugitive (1993), directed by Stuard Baird. This was his second film, following  Executive Decision (1996). Tommy Lee Jones returns to his role of Marshal Samuel Gerard. This time his co-star is Wesley Snipes.

At the start of the film a man gets involved in a traffic accident and arrested. He is identified as Mark Roberts (Snipes), a federal fugitive wanted for a double homicide in a Manhattan parking garage. He and other prisoners are transported to New York City by plane. On board is Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard, an unwelcome assignment. Gerard was recently involved in a publicized incident of police brutality, and in order to avoid bad publicity for the service, his boss has him transporting prisoners for a while. In mid-flight, one of the prisoners pulls out a concealed weapon and fires at Roberts. He misses but the bullet travels through a window and depressurizes the cabin of the plane, resulting in a plane crash.

Once Gerard recovers, he notices a single prisoner unaccounted for: Mark Roberts. Worse, the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) informs the Marshals that "Roberts" is actually Mark Sheridan, an operative of their service who murdered his fellow agents while selling state secrets to unidentified agents of another country. None of this really matters to Gerard, who really just wants to catch him. Meanwhile, Sheridan is heading to New York City on his own, intent on clearing his name.

Things become significantly more complicated almost immediately, as it turns out there's a lot more to the crime, a lot more to Sheridan, and a lot more at stake than anyone thought...

The film was a modest box office hit, its worldwide gross estimated to 102,367,405 dollars. About 57 million of those dollars came from the United States market, where it was the 36th most successful film of its year. For Snipes it was one of two hits in a single year, the other being Blade. Critically, it was mostly regarded as a by-the-numbers action film. Frenetic chases, gunplay and explosions are present. But the story is arguably paper thin and there is little depth to the characters. Baird would go on to direct Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), his third and last film.

Tropes seen in Marshals include:
"Gerard: (takes gun clip out of pocket) "I've got yours, you've got mine.""
 * Artifact Title: Unnecessarily averted. This is the sequel to The Fugitive, and both films involve Gerard chasing fugitives.
 * It's mainly because this film is a Dolled-Up Installment, and was not originally written as being a sequel for "The Fugitive". Why they didn't call it "The Fugitive II", or "The Next Fugitive" is anyone's guess.
 * Clear My Name: The motivation for Mark Sheridan.
 * Cool Guns: Gerard tells DSS Special Agent John Royce (Robert Downey, Jr..) to "Get yourself a Glock and lose that nickel-plated sissy pistol," referring to Royce's Taurus. It becomes a major plot point (a literal Chekhov's Gun) later in the movie.
 * Dawson Casting: Noah is apparently just "a kid". Or at least a very young adult. He sure doesn't look it. Also, how the heck old was he during the events of The Fugitive?
 * Dropped a Bridge on Him:
 * Everything's Better with Chickens: Tommy Lee Jones may be the only person in Hollywood capable of looking badass in a chicken suit. Arguably, that makes his line "Regular or extra crispy?" much more effective.
 * Flashed Badge Hijack: Gerard pulls this.
 * Heroic BSOD: Gerard, after  gets shot and killed.
 * It Works Better with Bullets: At one point, Gerard checks his villainous partner's gun and gives it back to him. When said partner tries to use it on him, minutes later, it doesn't fire. Gerard had switched clips without Royce noticing, which he points out in the following quote.


 * Killed Off for Real: Again,
 * The Mole: It turns out that
 * Old Shame: Robert Downey, Jr. hated working on this film and called it one of his career low points.
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech
 * Retcon: A strange one. Noah Newman is depicted in this movie as being "just a kid", or a rookie. It's strange since, Newman's actor was 35 at the time of shooting, and was 30 during filming of The Fugitive. Also, in The Fugitive, Noah is not once referred to as being "a kid", and is also seen as being as competent, and experienced as the other marshals.
 * But he's still the youngest and newest member of the group. Some groups are just simply like that. How long did Scrubs Dr. Cox refer to JD as "Newbie" even after they'd been working together 8 years?
 * Stairwell Chase: This time, unlike in the previous film, Sheridan is pursued UP the stairs by Gerard and Royce.
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: L. Scott Caldwell's character Poole does not appear in this sequel. The character is replaced with a character named Cooper, and played by La Tanya Richardson.
 * Even some of the scenes get this. The plane crash=bus crash (it's even started in a similar fashion, with a prisoner trying to escape), and Sheridan's escape from a building echoes Kimble's famous leap from the dam.
 * Try and Follow: Sheridan jumps off the roof of a building, using a rope to swing over to the 125th Street Metro-North station, then jumps onto the departing train to evade Gerard.
 * Wrongful Accusation Insurance: Played unbelievably straight, even more so than in its predecessor. In the course of proving his innocence and attempting to flee the country, Sheridan commits numerous felonies, including kidnapping, assault, and even attempted murder (when he shoots Gerard, even if he did deliberately aim for his bullet-proof vest) of a federal agent. His girlfriend counts as well, for aiding and abetting him the whole way, and what's more, given that she might not yet be a US citizen, or even in the country legally; her actions could have resulted in her being deported. But when the movie ends, they're all strolling out of a courthouse with a few throwaway lines about how he has been "cleared of all charges".
 * Perhaps the DSS wanted to keep the treasonous activities of the people who framed Sheridan out of the news.
 * If they don't drop the charges then they have to send him to trial. At which point he not only has every reason to spill his guts about every single shitty thing they've ever done that he knows about, but also has the opportunity to do on the witness stand, under oath, and in the public record. On the other hand if they let him walk he owes them one and in return will keep his mouth shut. Being an organization of spooks, they'd be far more concerned about maintaining silence then about enforcing justice, so...