Cutting to the Chase

In “U.S. Marshals,” Tommy Lee Jones plays a never-say-die federal agent chasing a supposed bad guy played by Wesley Snipes from the swamps of the South to the streets of New York City. Rated PG-13.

Kenny Wagner, 14, lists “The Fugitive” as one of his all-time favorite flicks. He couldn’t get enough of the chase, with its battle of wills and wits between Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones.

When he heard about “U.S. Marshals,” not a sequel but again starring Jones as the same determined character in a similar situation, Kenny was thrilled. Until he saw the movie.

“I could see how they were trying to make it like the other one, but they didn’t,” said Kenny, who lives in Yorba Linda.

“They ran after that guy [Wesley Snipes], but it wasn’t all that great. It wasn’t sucko [but] not nearly as tight as ‘The Fugitive.’ ”

What Kenny liked about the first film was the relationship of growing respect between the characters played by Jones and Ford. Kenny didn’t see much of that in “U.S. Marshals,” which fails to make a significant connection between Jones’ and Snipes’ characters.

“I don’t know if [Jones] really cared for [Snipes] in the end,” Kenny said. “He was just a criminal to him.”

In fact, Snipes’ character is not a criminal. Like the good doctor in “The Fugitive,” he’s suspected of murder (two, it turns out) that he didn’t commit in a convoluted tale of international spying and counterspying involving China.

Still, Kenny’s point is well-taken--the resolution has Snipes exonerated (because you know all along he’s innocent, this isn’t a surprise), but he never does bond with Jones, who’s been hounding him across several states.

Kenny’s 13-year-old friend, Adam Silvano of Yorba Linda, liked “U.S. Marshals” more but wasn’t wowed. He also thought it was too derivative of “The Fugitive,” with little of the earlier flick’s interesting complexity.

“They really didn’t get to me,” Adam said of the movie’s characters.

Adam did, however, think the film delivered visually. An early scene where a jet carrying prisoners crashes on a country road, then plunges into a lake, was as exciting to him as the famous train derailment in “The Fugitive.”

“Just insane,” Adam said, “the way it [skidded] into the water, with the fire all over [the hill] and on it.” (Insane is good.)

Another passage that held Adam came when Jones is inches from capturing Snipes on a Manhattan rooftop. Instead of giving up, Snipes grabs a steel cable and bungee-jumps to a commuter train speeding below.

“I know you couldn’t really do that, but it looked insane,” Adam said.

Cissy Frias, 11, decided “U.S. Marshals” was ho-hum, only shrugging when asked if she liked it. Cissy said it was a bit murky; the Brea girl was unsure who or what Snipes’ character was supposed to be. That he’s an undercover agent stuck in the middle of a frame-up didn’t register with her at all.

“Then why did he kill those men?” Cissy wanted to know. “I think he was someone bad who did really bad things.”

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PARENTS’ PERSPECTIVE: Adults weren’t eager to recommend “U.S. Marshals” as a quality night at the movie theater, but they did say its soft-core violence was a relief. For an action-flick, it’s relatively blood- and mayhem-free, though the plane crash could unnerve the very young.

“The pace was really about them running fast, very fast, after each other,” said Jason Hansen of Orange. “That was about it. . . . Nobody got splattered, which was good.”

Brea mother Maria Lu agreed that it was pretty harmless. And pretty redundant. “Kids might love the tempo but probably not for the entire show,” she said, adding that she was annoyed that “U.S. Marshals” is so similar to “The Fugitive,” although not nearly as good.

“Can’t they come up with something new?” Lu asked. “I know Hollywood isn’t always that creative, but this was very pathetic.”