Directed By Edgar Wright

Starring – Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo

The Plot – Financially stricken Ben Richards (Powell) joins a game show in which contestants, allowed to go anywhere in the world, are pursued by “hunters” hired to kill them.

Rated R for strong violence, some gore, and adult language

The Running Man | Official Trailer (2025 Movie) – Edgar Wright, Glen Powell

POSITIVES

Opting out of the misconceived notion that this is a remake of the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film of the same name, and instead inspiring the route of adapting the Stephen King novel, this interpretation actually garners with it a lot of unforeseen freedom that allows it to make its lasting imprint on the legacy of the franchise, particularly in the exploits of a 100 million dollar budget that actually elicits results to the integrity of the film. For starters, the world-building here is tremendously elaborate and thoroughly detailed towards fleshing out this Dystopian future, which despite depicting an unspecified date, feels as vividly evocative and familiar of our own world, especially as the script taps into thematic impulses pertaining to everything from the sensationalizing of the media, to class warfare, to even Artificial Intelligence dependency. While the material itself is a little thinly explored and even heavily preachy towards the third act climax of the film, Wright’s eye for outlook seems focused firmly on conflicts that currently resonate in our own world, instead of hypothetical inevitabilities that spawn imaginatively in every one of these cautionary tales about the futuristic destruction of humanity, giving us plenty to chew on psychologically in between action set pieces that overwhelm with their physicality, all the while meeting us persistently at eye level towards making this feel like a real place inside of policies and traditions that are sketchy, to say the least. This is where the film really shows off its scope and scale that helps elevate it from the tight studio constrictions of its predecessor, featuring an evidential versatility between the various depictions of its respective worlds, wealthy and poor, that spares no cent towards rendering on-site shooting locations that effortlessly convey the distinct advantages and imbalance of one side to the other. As a result, the film’s storytelling throughout a 128-minute runtime spans extensively across varying geography, in ways that simultaneously elaborates the game’s reach on an adoringly voracious public, while offering us ample opportunity in coming across these colorfully chaotic characters who assist in Ben’s attempt to constantly evade his pursuers. On top of an opportunistic budget, Wright also recognizes and embraces the rich history of both this franchise and its quirky, cooky author, unearthing more than a few clever Easter Eggs, visually and audibly, that serve as a tip of the hat to longtime King enthusiasts who have been moved by his terrifying nightmare worlds brought to life with such immaculate detail. Without spoiling anything, there is one particular King fictional town that surprisingly makes an appearance during the second act of Ben’s striving for survival, and with everything we’ve learned historically about this place, the mentally unstable patrons who frequent it, feel par for the course of what we’ve come to expect from such a toxically condemning community, which now feels all the more special considering it has combined a couple of franchises that I never expected to exist in the same world with one another, despite being helmed from the same disturbed visionary who penned them. The film is also graced with some solid action set pieces that are enhanced by the creative versatility in set-ups and vulnerabilities, which help to keep them freshly innovative and compelling, despite the abundance of them inside of this bloated runtime. Much respect to Powell, who does his own stunts, and Wright, for opting for as much practicality as possible, as both elements inspires grit and resiliency to so many of the stakes of the situations, and while I have my own problems with Wright’s surprisingly bland execution, which I will get to later, I can say that as a director, he openly embraces danger in ways that would make Tom Cruise itching to work with him, leaving little to chance when it comes to these punctuating pay-offs orchestrating the extreme desperation required to play the game. Lastly, I want to give so much credit to Powell and Colman Domingo, for their undying commitment to portrayal, which helps uncover anxious characters driven by limitless personality. For Powell’s Ben, this pertains not only to the unchained intensity elicited from the tediousness of a world that has made it difficult for he and his family to live comfortably, but also the radiantly disarming charisma that has made Powell such a sought-after leading man in a variety of genres, speaking volumes to his level of adaptive professionalism that can make even the worst films better by his influence on the film’s appeal. As for Domingo, he’s relegated to more of a supporting role, this time around, as gameshow host Bobby T, and with his own brand of eccentric deliveries driving so much of the film’s overhead narration, becomes an irreplaceable presence to a film that suffers, each time he’s not a part of the scene, in some shape or form, with effective quips that were responsible for what little comedic impact that the movie had on my engagement.

NEGATIVES

While this version of “The Running Man” is an obvious improvement on its predecessor, it isn’t without noticeably glaring flaws, particularly with Wright’s direction, which feels far more subdued and stunted than I would’ve expected from one of the industry’s most expressive directors. Long gone are the aspects of familiarity with Wright’s direction that immerse us in intentionally frenetic pacing of his storytelling, as well as the stimulating style of his creative transitions and overall editing, and in a film that captivates us mostly from the perspective of an audience watching a game show, it’s a bit disappointing that Wright didn’t engage all the more artistically in a film and corresponding story that practically begged for it, leaving his direction falling a bit flat, considering he has helmed some of the coolest films of the 21st century. Wright’s hinderances on the project don’t just limit themselves to a directional capacity, as his screenwriting also falls a bit suspect under the weight of such a bloated finished product that sacrifices fluidity in its pacing to take ample time alongside the various conflicts that come to light in Ben’s journey. If this sounds like a positive to anyone seeking more context in a story, you should understand that it gets to a point that its themes and corresponding social commentary land with the kind of subtlety of a man quite literally yelling them out, at one point, directly at the audience, and considering so much of the movie’s pacing ascended and descended like a rollercoaster that tired out long before the movie’s best parts, it results in a tediousness that exhausted my patience in this story, as well as my investment to its characters. Part of this definitely falls on the outlining of Ben’s characterization as a protagonist, with him feeling mentally unstable from our very first scene with him, instead of a meticulous evolution in the psychology of the character, and considering the first act breezes through its initial set-up, where the rest of the film plods mercilessly towards feeling every inch of its over two hour runtime, the film definitely could’ve used another cut inside of the editor’s chair, where as much as twenty-five minutes could’ve been omitted from the engagement, without losing anything to the story’s integrity. On top of this, “The Running Man” represents the second film in as many weeks to feel plagued by forced humor that sacrifices the tonal integrity of this hopelessly bleak world, resulting in tonal clashes with the material that undercut the impact of the gags elicited. The comedic material itself is certainly nothing special, with a majority of effective instances often pertaining to either Domingo’s darkly depraved deliveries, or Ben’s exaggeratedly intense emphasis in moments that don’t call for them, but they’re even less effective while being incorporated to moments that integrally don’t call for laughs during so much suffering, and while the original movie suffered much of the same problems in the measuring of its tone, my hopes was that Wright’s version would embrace more of the nihilistic of this world-building, instead opting for comedy that directly compromises the urgency and suspense of action scenes riddled in intensity. Finally, like the other King adaptation, this year, “The Long Walk”, the film features a deviation to its literary ending, only this time it didn’t land as prominently for me, on account of the movie stitching preposterous convenience into sending audiences home safe and happy. This is more of the same with so much of the movie, considering Ben constantly comes across the right person to progress his narrative along uncontested, but it lands the most compromisingly during the film’s closing moments, as its convoluted explaining relies far too heavily on tell over show, leaving so many questions of logic unanswered in a resolution that wants to have it both ways, in turn removing any semblance of daring ambition to Wright’s direction.

OVERALL
“The Running Man” delivers popcorn thrills, high-stakes grit and resiliency, on account of an elaborately expanded upgrade of a game and corresponding world-building, but just barely survives the engaging endurance test of an over two hour runtime that nearly collapses under the weight of limitless convenience, tonal clashes, and a newly surmised ending that sacrifices lasting poignancy to its impact. While the film doesn’t quite live up to the level of potential projected from an Edgar Wright experience with a limitless budget, it does more than a remarkable job of articulating why Glen Powell’s undeniable charisma have made him a star capable of crossing over into any genre, giving this King adaptation just enough determination to go the distance, even if “The Long Walk” blazed a much more prominent trail to profoundness than its successor.

My Grade: 6.5 or C