The Running Man Review: Glen Powell Shines in Fun Action Movie
Stephen King’s writing gets yet another big-screen adaptation in 2025. We’ve seen The Monkey, The Life of Chuck, The Long Walk, and now, The Running Man, which you may remember was first adapted into a 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie. This time, director Edgar Wright brings his bold vision to the source material. When the director of Baby Driver, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Hot Fuzz adapts a story about a man on the run as endless forces try to hunt him down, you know you’re in for quite a ride. Throw in newly minted Hollywood leading man Glen Powell into the mix, and you have a surefire recipe for success.
The Running Man is your fun dose of violent entertainment. There’s a bit of a meta nature to all this. In a dystopian future, propaganda is fed to the masses, and audiences eat up a game show called The Running Man about “criminals” getting hunted down by killers all over the world. Meanwhile, in real life, people go to see this movie for the spectacle of violence. There’s a distance in the fact that this is a fictional narrative, but it’s quite an interesting parallel nonetheless. Powell plays Ben Richards, father of a sick child who enters the dangerous game show for the chance to get his wife and daughter out of poverty.
This is a far more faithful adaptation of King’s book than the 1987 movie, which took place primarily in a few locations in one night and served as a vehicle for Arnold’s charisma, muscles, and one-liners. The new Running Man movie keeps to more of the same story beats as the original novel (which, ironically, is set in 2025), while also serving as yet another Glen Powell vehicle. He’s been having his movie star era lately, and here, he flexes a muscle that he’s used before that not even Arnold could use. The book requires Ben Richards to be in disguise and sneak around, which 6-foot-2 Austrian bodybuilders can’t really do. There are moments in this new movie that feel very much like Powell’s previous work in Hit Man, where he had to put on humorous disguises and voices.
The screenplay from Wright and Michael Bacall gets us to care about Ben pretty early on. He wants to provide for his sick child, but he has a rage burning within him. He has a wife named Sheila (Jayme Lawson), who serves her purpose in the story, but I did walk out wishing we had gotten a bit more warmth and romance from their relationship. It could have been a stronger driving force in this narrative, but it simply is there and does the bare minimum. Ben is competent in the challenges early on, and when he comes face-to-face with producer Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), Killian encourages him to use that anger.
While the movie doesn’t always fully embrace Ben’s rage, it’s a fun character trait to have, especially with a character who’s out of his depth. Despite being capable, once he’s in the game, he spends a lot of the film trying to stay out of sight and away from the Hunters. But trouble follows him, and we have our movie. Wright’s always been an exceptional action director, and one of his shining moments in the movie is in the trailer, where a camera drone (being broadcast to the audience in the film) follows Ben as he runs through the hallways of a narrow apartment building.
I will say that the trailer is better than the final film. Most of the big action moments are in the trailer, and with a premise like this, you walk in expecting the thrill ride of a lifetime. I wouldn’t say that’s what we got. There are a lot of moments where the film slows down, and we have Ben talking to people in secluded areas far away from danger. The Running Man would have benefited from playing more into the paranoia of Ben walking in crowded places and being terrified that someone would recognize and report him, or even worse, try to kill him. There’s a bit of that in here, but we needed more. It’s not as consistently thrilling as The Long Walk. Movies are about peaks and valleys, but sometimes, the peaks are too high and the valleys are too low.
What Wright gives you is a lot of bursts of action. I wish some of them were a bit longer, but when the movie enters action mode, it’s a lot of fun. But as for the story, it could have been a bit stronger. The structure is a bit repetitive; Ben comes into contact with someone seeking help, then he gets attacked by the bad guys. This happens multiple times with several different characters, and it can sometimes feel like once the attack happens, the character Ben meets is forgotten about for the rest of the film.
Michael Cera is enjoyable to watch in his minutes of screen time, but much like many of the other characters, he simply helps Ben and then vanishes from the movie. It isn’t until about an hour and a half into the film that we meet Amelia Williams (Emilia Jones), a civilian whom Ben takes hostage. They have some on-the-nose, unsubtle dialogue that illustrates the movie’s themes about class divides, and then she ends up playing a major role in the final act, even though we never set up her character properly, not enough to care when she becomes important.
As for the finale? Well, this might make or break the movie for some people. It’s an action set piece on a plane, and there are some genuinely phenomenal moments throughout. My palms were clenched, and it is very exciting. But as The Running Man leans into more ideas surrounding the world and the fictional game show within it, it can feel like it’s throwing too many ideas at the wall at once. By the end, I was fine with the final act, even if there are a few ideas that needed a polish or two.
But overall, there’s a lot to enjoy. Colman Domingo gives a fittingly energetic performance as the game show host. Since the 1987 movie featured real-life Family Feud host Richard Dawson as the main antagonist, I feel like we missed an opportunity to have Steve Harvey be the menacing villain of this action movie. Brolin’s always played a good villain, and he makes no exception here. Powell is fun to watch in this high-octane action thriller that’s directed with just enough energy for the action movie fan to eat up and enjoy.
SCORE: 7/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 7 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our The Running Man review.
Source: Comingsoon.net