The Running Man – Movie Review
First Reaction – The Running Man entertains, but never pushes the bigger story.
Director: Edgar Wright
Writer: Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright (Screenplay)
Writer: Stephen King (Novel)
Cast
- Glen Powell (Twisters)
- Emilia Jones (CODA)
- Josh Brolin (Avengers: Infinity War)
- Katy O’Brian (Love Lies Bleeding)
- Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Plot: A man joins a game show in which contestants, allowed to go anywhere in the world, are pursued by “hunters” hired to kill them.
Runtime: 2 Hours 13 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Running Man starts when blacklisted worker Ben Richards (Powell) becomes desperate to make money for his family. He decides to try out for the network run gameshows. However, his tryout gives him one offer from Dan Killian (Brolin).
Ben reluctantly agrees to take part in the Running Man gameshow, where he must survive 30 days with hunters tracking him down. As he begins the game, he must learn to survive and who to trust, but deep down, others are waiting for him and he learns the truth about the game.
Verdict on The Running Man
Recap
The movie follows a desperate father who signs up for the deadly reality game show. He must survive 30 days to change his family’s life forever. However, there is a catch, and the hunters will track him down at any cost.
Best Parts
The movie flows nicely and uses the typical message of not believing everything you see. It works well reflecting modern society, who see something and decides it is real, without learn more about the material it is sourced from. Even if this story has been told before, it uses the rich and poor divide to the extreme to show society has created a split. Elsewhere, Glen Powell does shine in the leading role of the movie.
Worst Parts
It is always going to be hard not to compare this to the original. It does take the story in a different direction, but the core idea is still the same. However, the hunters lack anything to make them feel original or stand out in any way. The other two contestants don’t get any introduction about what they are about. Finally, the ending feels extremely anticlimactic. In the end, it feels like a safe action movie, which entertains but holds back too much on the bigger message.
Final Thoughts –The Running Man is an entertaining action movie, but it lacks something to make it stand out.
