The Fugitive (2020) User Reviews

Better off watching it as a movie not a series.

[npjy83 · 6/10 · 21 October 2020]

I'm not a fan of small episodes. But then again, I'm not a fan of seeing episodes draw out a life story to get short point across. I ended up watching all 14 episodes straight through as a movie. It was better.

Kiefer's character, I did not enjoy however. I know that when watching him now we all expect Jack Bauer (and how we miss Jack), but this character was unlikeable, unrealistic and it made it seem like he was a B class actor at times. He kept on changing his accent several times and the style of acting also changed a few times towards the middle of the series. He was so patronising you wonder why his team still work with him. He could have played a better character and made the series slightly more watchable / enjoyable. That was a major disappointing factor in this show.

The story was good though and kept you on edge throughout. I'd recommend it for the story, not for Kiefer (sorry man - gotta take constructed criticism), but watch it as a movie (in full) and not as a series (split).

No

[ronniesudden · 6/10 · 18 August 2020]

This could have been a well worth watching series but the 8/10 minute episodes don't give you enough time to get engrossed in the plot. Why do this? Got the talent and should have been thought out a bit better.

8-min format

[hm1313 · 7/10 · 16 August 2020]

I like it ... except the 8-min format. It was clearly not produced for "You Tube" short format ... a std. 44-min tv show that was rudely cut to fit modern low-attention-span audience. But this show is made for/by adults who are not YT generation. Restore it to 44-min., w/maybe 6-12 episodes/season (remember "24" ran with 24 great episodes!!). BTW ... I like this series !!

Really solid start

[jjpscott01 · 7/10 · 3 August 2020]

While the jury is still out on how this "Quibi" format is going to go over, the first 3 episodes of this show are extremely engaging. Granted, I have only watched 30 minutes of total show thus far. The acting so far is great with stars like Keifer Sutherland and Boyd Holbrook as the leads. For a show with so little content, it does a great job and making you care about what is happening with its characters. I still consider 24 to be greatest written television drama of all time so of course I came for Keifer Sutherland and really like the character hes playing here. Hes a bit rude and sarcastic which is a nice change from the Jack Bauer character we came to know for many years. I'll definitely continue watching to see where this goes but so far its as good as I could hope for a show that only has a half hour of content released.

How the mighty have fallen!

[nddinatali · 2/10 · 17 August 2020]

OMG the acting in this movie is AWFUL! Freaking Kiefer with his "can I get a copy boss?" every 3 minutes. Beyond the awful acting, the premise is ridiculous!!! It went from 0-1000 throwing all logic and reason out the window. Then lets talk about the 7-8 min show. Why bother making 11 episodes that short? Why not just make a freaking movie! All in all this is a train wreck for me.

Entertaining enough

[in-imdb-1 · 6/10 · 18 August 2020]

Face it, this is a mess. Story is stupid and unoriginal, episodes are too fast, great actors got terrible lines... Yet, it is watchable and after a few episodes, it gets entertaining. But the whole format is wrong. You cannot cut a thriller into less than 9 minutes pieces, this is anticlimactic. If each episode had received a longer run of 40 minutes and a deeper story, this could have been a great show. In the end, this is small at all levels. I don't think Quibi is the future of mobile content.

Who would've thought you would miss 8 minutes of your life

[natbro96 · 2/10 · 17 August 2020]

I was excited for a remake of The Fugitive and always liked Kiefer Sutherland. But I'm not a fan of these ridiculous mini episodes. I like to get engrossed in my shows and get to know the characters and see the story unfold. At first I wondered if I'd somehow fast forwarded the show or was I watching an extra long 8 minute preview for it? Then I realised it was another one of those horrible mini shows. A huge no from me. A waste of time.

Loved it

[crazyjo2 · 9/10 · 19 August 2020]

I don't get why there's all the bad reviews from prople complaining about the short episodes - that's the whole idea of Quibi! The acting was great, the plot was suspenseful! I was quite happy with this. Doesn't disappoint at all.

Does the job, given the Quibi concept

[clairelacroix · 7/10 · 20 August 2020]

I rarely post any review, but I feel like adding my 2 cents here, as I'm surprised by some incredibly harsh comments. It's like some people's expectations have been terribly disappointed. Granted, I don't live in the US so I don't know how it's been promoted, and I haven't seen neither of the previous Fugitive series or movie so I can only reflect on this one on it's how merits. It sure isn't perfect, it's probably not even great, but I found it enjoyable enough to make me come back the next day, and I don't think it deserves such severe ratings. I agree that the story isn't particularly original and the writing is quite simplistic. I'm not sure it would be of any interest as a feature film. But the structure of the action and suspens works well for the quick bites format (wether one likes that concept is another debate). My main problem is that as a series, it's too short to really explore either the characters or that theme of how technology and media can manipulate our perceptions and beliefs. It should be the main focus of the series but it's treated too broadly. On a strongest point, the acting overall is fine, even if I do have some second thoughts about the writing character-wise. I'm not sure how much I care about our fugitive Mike Ferro. Besides seeing him react quite smartly (too smartly?) to the day events, I can't quite make out his character (is he in denial about killing 2 people including his brother in a car accident while driving under influence? What does working for gang members while in prison say of him?...). That « reporter » (I put that in brackets because she's really level zero of journalism) Pritti is just awful. She's given some backstory of daddy issues that is supposed to explain her motivations but I couldn't empathize with her at all, which I think is a failure from a storytelling point. Thankfully there are other strong female characters to root for, such as Allison Ferro or detective Sloane. I've read complaints that Kiefer Sutherland's police boss Clay Bryce is over the top, which is somewhat true, but at least he manages to stand out, and he's fun. With so little time to create a character, he brings in a lot of energy and attitude, and the inevitable comparison to Jack Bauer stops the second he starts talking. Plus no one pulls off those tight jeans better. While the wife-killed-on-9/11 backstory is sadly cliched (come on, it was 20 years ago, and the guy works in a counter terrorist unit, couldn't they come up with something fresher???) the relationship between Bryce and his team, especially Sloane, is one of the most compelling aspect of the show, and I wished to see more. All in all I'd say it's an average but enjoyable production, and as something designed to watch in small chunks while commuting, it does the trick. 7/10

Is this Sci-Fi?

[ErikH1959 · 2/10 · 14 August 2020]

I can't stand these 8 minute episodes of new shows! Short attention span theater when most of us all have more time to binge watch 1 hour episodes for a 13 to 26 episode season?

Omg why the bad reviews

[oyasjames · 10/10 · 18 August 2020]

I'm just tired of this bad reviews, this movie is great, suspense filled shorts, it makes you want to watch the next episode, kudos to the actors and the director that gave the same feeling you get by watching a 30-40 minutes long episodes in such a short package. I understand the copy boss is a lazy writing, but as regards to the cops that's what you get on the case of mistaken identity. Its 9.5/10 for me

Is this Comedy?

[psyismylife · 7/10 · 13 December 2020]

Watched it all with a comedy vibe, so many good actors crumbled in one tiny story but with childish acting, cops and news, holes in story... looks more like a school project than a real movie.

Worst Writing Ever

[oldmovies1185 · 1/10 · 17 August 2020]

If you like one corny, overused cliche after another, delivered by horrible acting, this is the show for you!

Seriously don't take this seriously...

[bencobb-26230 · 7/10 · 6 September 2021]

Treat this like "Naked Gun" or "Hot Fuzz" and it's actually good for some belly laughs! Kiefer's character is hysterical! You can't blame acting when the writing is this ridiculous. I loved the principal at the elementary school who says "The school psychologist is out sick and I'm not trained for this..." Most principals have experienced a kid or two before they get hired; just saying.

Wow.. so very bad.

[Tactrix · 4/10 · 14 August 2020]

Let's start with the obvious, if cops were this stupid, no criminal in the world would ever get caught. Now for everything else, the only actors worth mentioning are Mike Ferro(Boyd Holbrook) and Allison Ferro(Natalie Martinez) who do an amazing job of acting. Every single person including Kiefer Sutherland do such a poor job that if I didn't know better I'd say they were cast at the last second from a amateur theater troupe.

Now onto the plot, it's a combination of a bunch of bungling and sheer stupidity. I've never seen more people get more things wrong in a row in my life. You couldn't make a story this bad if you tried, and they seem to really REALLY have tried.

Meanwhile the episodes are for some strange reason 8 minutes long. Like someone said "hey you know what'd be great? If we took a 1 and a half hour show and broke it into multiple episodes that were ridiculously short for no reason at all!"

4/10 you should be ashamed to call this a series.

Not bad

[jplvvhisnixjbsxcxk · 7/10 · 22 August 2020]

I have been a fan of The Fugitive since it was in black and white. To my surprise this version is worth watching, it's not great but not a waste. The only problem is the 2020 millennials who decided to to beak it into 8 minute segments. Who ever came up with this idea should find a new career. What are you gonna do next make a remake of Scarface?

Cheesy, predictable garbage.

[darrel076 · 2/10 · 29 August 2020]

Simply awful. The only way to get through this , is to laugh at it. The cast was wasted with this horrible script. Everything was easily predicted and we laughed when it happened. Shame, I had high hopes.

Engaging

[erixlennerd · 8/10 · 16 August 2020]

This is really engaging and those that gave it a low score are the dumb ones. It's spot on with today's media post-first-check-later approach to news and how it can spiral out of control if not following the proper process especially when going after people's lives.

Although I agree with some complaints that certain characters are too stereotypical and portrayed in a stupid way. And also the format is dumb. Quibi will be shortlived but I hope this goes to a proper streaming network like Netflix or Amazon prime.

It started as an 8 minute headache...

[cliometrician · 7/10 · 29 August 2020]

Right off the bat I was going to give this a rating of 3 based on two factors: the ridiculous 8 minute long episodes, and the unbelievably bad police work by Kiefer Sutherland. After no more than 30 seconds of viewing video cams he thought they had pinpointed the bomber...because he was on his cell phone....and they knew he was an ex con. Sutherland played the part as a bombastic, over the top, brainless cop......for a few episodes. Then, I kept watching, and becoming more interested in the story for one main reason: the acting and sympathetic portrayal of a wrongfully accused man by Boyd Holbrook.

And as the action continued Sutherland slowly dialed down his performance, all for the better. I revised my grade to a 5 midway through the episodes, and by the time I got to the end I gave it a solid 7. Oh, sure, the 8 minute episode gimmick is still ridiculous, but the great job by Holbrook and the suspense that kept me clicking to the next episode finally sold me. The late David Janssen would give it a thumb's up.

Shortened EPs to Ease The Pain?

[Ladybbird-269-945146 · 1/10 · 13 August 2020]

The script is glib & sooooo corny & Keifer Sutherlands' performance was so over acted and tweety. & once again the make-up dept failed miserably. He was beaten up yet only had 2 spots of red on his face... >Perhaps the plan to have shortened EPs was to keep viewers interested & to keep them watching. It did for me somewhat, just hoping it would improve. It hasnt. Up to EP7 now and Im falling asleep zzzzzz

Whay bad reviews ?

[andreimihailnanu · 9/10 · 17 August 2020]

I really dont't understand these bad reviews....this show is not bad at all....i saw in my life very very bad tv shows. I think people really dont know any more how a very bad show is looking like. The format is not for home tv. If you want to watch it at home, use the remote to pass through episodes. It will take you 2 seconds. Its not "24", but its not an 1 or 2. I gave it a "9" just to compensate the 1s and 2s. In fact, this is a solid 7. For some time, too many rates of 1 and 2 for pretty good shows....I think people is nervous becouse of the pandemic, and really need very high quality. But this is possible for few shows only....not everybody is a genius ...

Decent Action Series/Movie

[rob-74582 · 7/10 · 19 August 2020]

Yes, it was stupid to make 14 eight minute episodes. It would have been better to make it into a single movie. So, do what I did and gather the episodes together and watch them one right after the other. It's a decent action series/movie and Kiefer Sutherland does a good job of being a real A**Hole of a cop. Worth a watch.

Imagine the dumbest people you can think of. They are the characters of this show.

[smmannix · 3/10 · 15 August 2020]

Awful. Very dumb people trying to solve a horrific crime. Dumb police, dumb reporter. The march to idicracy continues with this show. 3 "episodes" was all I could stand. The people who wrote this should never work in television again.

Not the Film

[dar0417 · 7/10 · 17 November 2020]

This was surprisingly solid. It kept you in suspense but not as good as the Harrison Ford version.

Absolute Rubbish.

[pootlefour · 2/10 · 19 August 2020]

I really don't get the 8 minute episode thing, I watched the whole thing in one go. What a waste of 2 hours. The script is terrible and so unbelievable. Most of it doesn't make much sense. Really, don't bother watching it unless you're curious as to how bad it is.