`FLED' UNDERMINED BY LACK OF CHARACTER CHEMISTRY.

Byline: Jane Sumner Dallas Morning News

Now is the summer of derivative fare. ``Independence Day'' is a dog's breakfast of movie homages. ``Phenomenon'' is ``Powder'' with charisma and hair. And ``Fled,'' with Laurence Fishburne and Stephen Baldwin as cons on the run, is your standard stunt-heavy, hot-weather splatflick.

When bullets fly at a prison work detail in Georgia, the two jailbirds strike out for freedom, pursued by a local cop, the Cuban mafia (whose members don't shoot very well) and a federal marshal.

It's not easy, because the guys are chained together at the wrist. And they hate each other, see. That means lots of slashing, vicious slugfests on the lam.

What's being touted as Fishburne's action-film debut has the obligatory topless joint; car, truck and motorcycle chases; hit-man heavies in dark eyewear; and, of course, a dirty cop.

The leads may be shackled to each other, but this is no ``The Defiant Ones'' sequel. That 1958 melodrama was exciting and powerful. But Fishburne and Baldwin don't set off sparks the way Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis did.

Fishburne is a commanding presence, and the youngest of the Baldwin brothers cleans up pretty well as a criminal hacker who invades the wrong corporation's confidential software and gets the film's last crowd-pleasing zinger.

But their buddy number lacks entertaining chemistry. Fortunately, there's Will Patton (``No Way Out'') with his cracker accent as an Atlanta detective and Salma Hayek (``Desperado'') as a smart, willing hostage to watch. Also, cameos by Taurean Blacque, RuPaul, Joe Torrey and Bill Bellamy perk up the otherwise predictable proceedings.

Frank Mantajano, who was Joan Collins' lover ``Dex'' Dexter for nine years on Dynasty before joining ``All My Children'' as Susan Lucci's latest husband, plays the one-note head of a Cuban crime family. Robert Hooks, whose son Kevin (``Passenger 57'') directs, is a by-the-book cop caught between his own detective and the feds.

``Fled'' was shot in Atlanta, but except for a few local settings, such as the Fulton County Courthouse and Georgia Dome (scene of a big shootout), it could be any big city in the country. The boffo finale takes place in a gondola at Stone Mountain, but that, too, fails to take advantage of the breathtaking site.

Fishburne may be the only one to get anything lasting out of this summer flick. Off screen, the star of last winter's ``Othello'' bought one of the slick motorcyles he rides in the film and named it - what else? - Desdemona.

THE FACTS The film: ``Fled'' (R; violence, strong language, nudity).

The stars: Laurence Fishburne, Stephen Baldwin, Will Patton, Robert John Burke, Salma Hayek, Robert Hooks, Victor Rivers.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Kevin Hooks. Released by MGM.

Running time: One hour, 45 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Two Stars.