After successes including “Baby Driver” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” director Edgar Wright returned to filmmaking with “The Running Man,” which proved highly anticipated. A reimagining of the 1987 classic, and itself adapted from Stephen King’s novel of the same name, Glen Powell succeeds Arnold Schwarzenegger in playing Ben Richards, the titular character.
Despite a new face and star behind the dystopian story, “The Running Man” feels shallow, disjointed and completely absent of Wright’s signature witty style.
Following Ben Richards (Powell) as he attempts to save his young daughter’s life by entering reality competition shows and winning cash prizes to afford her medicine, the film lacks substance and investment in character relationships for audiences to empathize with Richards. Richards eventually signs up to take part in “The Running Man,” a deadly show that puts contestants on the run for 30 days, hunted by the population and professional hunters, or “goons.”
From the onset, “The Running Man” struggles to settle on a single identity, shifting abruptly between gritty dystopian, action blockbuster and campy satire, making the movie feel awkwardly paced. Without Wright’s usual wit and visual techniques, the film’s inability to blend its tones together leaves an incohesive product that perhaps received too much interference and stylistic control from studio executives.
Powell serves as the highlight of “The Running Man.” Introduced as the “angriest man to ever audition,” Powell, compared to Schwarzenegger’s version, brings a sincerity to Richard’s rage as an ordinary man fighting the totalitarian system he lives in. Despite the writing giving him little internal life to work with, Powell’s physicality and ability as a leading man in action films is undeniable, as seen in several of the film’s cat and mouse chase scenes, aptly fitting the role of “The Running Man.”
The rest of the cast feels largely wasted. Names like Josh Brolin (“No Country for Old Men”), Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”) and Michael Cera (“Superbad”) promised a rich ensemble, yet many of their characters are underwritten and reduced to caricatures. Cera shines briefly during a booby-trap ridden fight scene, channeling Wright’s classic flair momentarily.
The tonal confusion bleeds into the film’s social and political commentary, which comes off as superficial and lacking subtlety. AI deepfakes, propaganda and inequality all attempt to be tackled, but the film dilutes its messages with punchlines, preventing any real discomfort or deeper reflection of current society. Parodies of real-world pop culture are hard to miss, such as the reality TV show titled “The Americanos,” blatantly referencing the Kardashian family. These references offer little to audiences without a clear idea of what the film is even trying to communicate.
“The Running Man” fails to outrun its shortfalls. What could have been a timely reinvention of a classic leaves audiences with a chase that, ironically, goes nowhere.
2 goons out of 5
