Fasten your seatbelts; The Running Man is an Edgar Wright film. Remember Baby Driver? The stakes are high; the pace is frenetic; the story is preposterous yet still feels accessible. The Running Man is a new adaptation of a Stephen King novel that was first made into a movie in the 1980s, with Arnold Schwarzanegger as the action hero. I don’t think I ever saw it, so no comparisons to be made here. Just a fresh-eyed look at a new iteration from the perspective of someone who worked in reality television. It’s all about ratings, people!
The story takes place in a near-future, authoritarian, dystopian society where the government controls EVERYTHING, including the media. The top-rated show is a reality competition called “The Running Man,” where contestants known as Runners must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins. In exchange, the Runners can win big bucks— huge bucks the longer they stay alive. Which usually isn’t very long. The survival rate on the show is zero. Cameras track the Runners’ every move, 24/7, and a bloodthirsty public can score points by ratting out the Runners.
Enter Ben Richards (Glen Powell, Top Gun: Maverick, Twisters, Hit Man), an unemployed, blue collar, down-on-his-luck husband and father who is desperate for cash to help save his sick baby. He visits “the Network” to try and get on a relatively harmless game show. But instead he’s recruited by the charmingly sinister, ratings-savvy executive producer of “The Running Man”, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin). Ben reluctantly enters the competition, and is soon off and running. And running. And running.
The movie is basically two solid hours of Ben running and fighting for his life, while his actions and image are often manipulated by The Network to turn the public against him. The game is ruthless. But Ben has just enough grit, determination, instinct and defiance to challenge the status quo and turn the game on its head. Ratings skyrocket, and lots of people die. It’s a bit like Survivor meets The Hunger Games.
This movie is definitely not for everyone. It’s a bit too violent for my taste, but Glen Powell is the perfect ‘everyman’ kind of hero. He’s got a conscience that gets him into trouble when he tries to stick up for the little guy. He wants to do right by his family. And you really do want (need) him to win. But after two+ hours of intense, nonstop reality show action, you may want to cleanse your palate with an episode or two of Dancing with the Stars, where the only things that get ‘executed’ are the Foxtrot, Quickstep, or Paso Doble.
The Running Man opens in theaters November 14. Running time: 133 minutes.