A sequel to “The Fugitive” has always sounded like a good idea, as long as it didn’t try to resurrect Harrison Ford’s Dr. Richard Kimble. How many times can the same innocent guy get framed?

Tommy Lee Jones’ lawman Gerard, though, with his crack team of U.S. marshals, seemed ripe for a spin-off. After all, there are always fugitives to chase. And the sequel, aptly titled “U.S. Marshals,” does it right almost.

Ford is nowhere to be seen, and the first film’s events are never mentioned, which is a good move. “The Fugitive” is one of the greatest action movies of all time, and a sequel reminding audiences of that wouldn’t be smart. It’s almost a foregone conclusion that “U.S. Marshals” won’t live up to its predecessor.

Jones returns as Sam Gerard, still working the beat in Chicago with his same team of deputies, including Joe Pantoliano’s Cosmo and Daniel Roebuck’s Renfro.

In a grand introduction, they bust a couple of gun pushers, one of whom is wanted over state lines. Acting as an escort a few days later, Gerard boards a plane with his prisoner, a plane that is full of other prisoners being transported (think “Con Air”).

One of the shackled passengers is Mark Sheridan (Wesley Snipes), a tow-truck driver implicated in a double murder which he swears he knows nothing about.

In the middle of the flight, a random passenger tries to kill Sheridan, causing the entire plane to crash in the process. This, of course, is meant to rival the original film’s train crash, and while it’s technically impressive it’s not even close.

Most of the prisoners and cops get out of the wreckage alive, but one gets away. Guess who.

With Sheridan on the loose, Gerard calls the rest of his team to the backwoods site for the search. But it seems the government has a special interest in Sheridan, because they put their own man, John Royce (Robert Downey Jr.), onto Gerard’s squad.

An annoyed Gerard, never one to mince words, offers one piece of advice to Royce: “Get yourself a Glock. Lose that nickel-plated sissy pistol.”

So the chase is on – again -with chases through a cemetery (great), a swamp (good) and a nursing home (blah), among others.

As the film goes on, the audience learns Sheridan was involved in the murders, but only in self-defense.

“I’d like you to explain why your ruthless assassin keeps going out of his way to let people live,” Gerard growls at Royce, reflecting on the government’s increasing shadiness.

Sheridan’s innocence is the major reason “U.S. Marshals” doesn’t live up to its potential. Gerard, along with the audience, starts to wonder if there are any guilty fugitives out there, since he keeps chasing innocent ones. If the filmmakers had made Sheridan guilty, this sequel might have gotten out of its predecessor’s shadow.

“U.S. Marshals,” though, isn’t close to the classic “The Fugitive.” Instead, it’s a closer resemblance to director Stuart Baird’s last film, “Executive Decision” – a brainless but shamelessly enjoyable action film.

In the end, Gerard and his crew prove themselves worthy of a second film, and probably a third. Hopefully a real bad guy will be on the loose next time.