Well whaddaya know? Ol Warners had a pretty good test screening. See things are looking up for em already. I had my spies at a screening U.S. Marshalls the other day and here be two of the several reports I received. Basically the feelings asserted here were universal. I don't have any RAVES or RANTS from anyone on it yet. OH yeah take into account that this is a very advance screening, and many things can change before the end of the process. Also, beware of spoilers, there are some in here, so if you are worried, it's probably best to stay a safe distance away. The first report comes from the last man himself, hereeeeeeeeeee's Omega maaaaaan!!!!
Harry, it's the Last Man here, first time caller, VERY long time listener. I typed this out real late a night in the secrecy of my lair...
Well I just returned home from a very advance screening of a U.S. Marshalls work print starring, as I'm sure you're well aware, Tommy Lee Jones and Wesley Snipes.
Basically, the film is a remake of The Fugitive with some new twists. The movie opens in a great scene with Gerrard in a chicken suit arresting the guy who played Ogre in Revenge of the Nerds. Then Snipes' character, Mark Sheridan, gets in an accident and they discover a gun, leading to another discovery that there is a warrant for his arrest for a double murder in NYC of two federal agents. He claims he didn't do it. Gerrard is put on a plane to take his recent catch back where he came from and guess who else is being transferred, Sheridan. During this scene everyone was whispering Con Air, and it was a little too similar. Of course, the plane crashes, it's a spectacular scene I might add, and Sherridan escapes. A little too much like the original train crash if you ask me.
Gerrard is forced to work with another agent, played by Robert Downey, Jr., and he's supposed to be a bad ass, which imho he does rather well, although he did seem a little druggy at times. He's a member of the same government agency the two men who were killed came from. Well they track Sherridan through all kinds of places, car chases, a swamp, but he eventually gets away to NYC, aparently he wants to clear his name, he was not responsible for the murders and it seems they are linked to some events with the Chinese embassy. Gerarrd finds tape of the incident and learns that Sherridan may have been set up.
All in all I'd say this is one you won't want to miss when it comes out this summer. It's too bad that they had to rehash so many of the plot points from the original, for example a fugitive who is wrongly accused and a large crash where the fugitive escapes, but the plot twists and the addition of Downey's character easily make up for it. And Snipes is no Harrison Ford, that's for sure. I'd say the one thing the movie still needs is better characterization of Gerrard. Don't get me wrong, Jones is awesome in this movie, but the plot gives no clues about his character's life aside from chasing fugitives. You do meet a date of his at a formal outing, but who is she and why are they together? Those were the kinds of things I was looking for. I was dissapointed that we do not really learn anything about this man, this U.S. Marshall who chases fugitives. Granted, the film was a work in progress, but I assume all the material was presented and they are looking to clip some of it, not add. If they want to turn this into a series franchise they'll need to add some characterization eventually, cause the big crashes and chase scenes are beginning to seem a little repetitive and stale, yes already. On the Last Meter on Earth... a B+.
And here is John Steed, whom I am sure will bowler you over with his review...
Tonight I saw a test screening of the work print for "US Marshals" (you know the cast...Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley Snipes, Robert Downey, Jr., etc.). It was attended, not surprisingly, by a few of the supporting actors and several WB studio execs (I recognized them but don't know their names offhand). Here's the dump on the film (Spoilers to follow):
The movie opens with Snipes' character, Mark Sheridan, getting involved in an auto accident. He's injured and taken away by ambulance, just before they discover an pistol velcroed (sp?) under the dash of his truck. The next scene humorously introduces Jones' character, Sam Girard, leading a takedown of some wanted convicts. Happily, the ensemble of marshals from the first film (The Fugitive) have all returned, including Joe Pantoliano (funny as ever). Meanwhile, Snipes' character is released from the hospital and arrested for having a handgun in Chicago. His arrest uncovers that he is wanted for a double-murder in New York. He denies it but is extradited to NY on a "Con Air"-style flight of convicts. Jones is aboard escorting the bad guys he aprehended earlier. The plane crashes (in a really cool crash sequence) and Snipes escapes. Sounding like the first movie yet? The parallels continue as a manhunt begins across lower Ohio (the plane was enroute to Memphis, then on to NYC) where Downey's character, a shady federal agent, is assigned to Jones' team. The manhunt ends in a swamp where Snipes grabs Downey as Jones arrives, ending in Snipes shooting Jones and escaping (again). Jones is patched up and the marshals return to Chicago to do their snooping around (in scenes very similar to the first one). A recurring girlfriend of Snipes' is monitored getting a call from Snipes, now in New York. Jones and Co. go to NYC to find him. Somewhere in the middle of all this they discover that Snipes has been wrongly accused of murder (Jones' marshals chasing an innocent man...go figure) and that Chinese spies are involved somehow. That plot point isn't explained that well.
More developments show that Snipes is a "kite", a freelance assasin/courier working for a vague government agency. Why the name "kite"? If something goes wrong the agency "cuts the string" and he's on his own. Downey's character seems to be holding info back as they track Snipes down, eventually ending in a kinda kewl shootout in a cemetary. Snipes escapes (again) and Jones and Downey chase him to a rooftop, where Snipes swings down from the roof Tarzan- style and lands on a train terminal roof, hopping on a passing train. There was a BIG spoiler (although semi-predictable) between the cemetary and the roof, but I can't tell you everything, now can I?
Jones finds Snipes trying to leave the country on a freighter but a fight ensues in a huge cargo hold of grain (one of the kewlest fights in the movie...and there are a lot of fists thrown in this one). Snipes is captured, finally, and the movie starts to wrap up from there.
Lacking anything? Very little character development of Jones' character and vague information about the government agency people seem to be working for. Photography was good, writing was on the same level as the first film, and action/chase sequences were really good. Despite the overall similarity to the formula used in "The Fugitive", "US Marshals" still remained pretty entertaining. If I had to rank it, I'd give it 3 1/2 stars out of five.
My $0.02 worth.
