PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Stephen King made you walk. Now he’s making you run!
Synopsis
In the year 2025, the United States has devolved into a dystopian dictatorship where the ultra-wealthy have all control and keep the populace complacent through game shows on The Network. One of these shows is The Running Man, in which three contestants must survive being hunted for 30 days; if they do, they win $1 billion. In an attempt to win the money to take care of his sick daughter, Ben Richards (Glen Powell) participates and quickly becomes the show’s biggest star in years. As the treacherous Network’s ratings and Ben’s stardom grow, he morphs into a symbol that could threaten the status quo.
My thoughts
You know, it’s not only funny that we’ve received four theatrical Stephen King adaptations this year, but two of them are basically the same concept written by his (now deceased) pseudonym Richard Bachman. Just two months ago, we got The Long Walk, which is about desperate, destitute people risking their lives to participate in a deadly national spectacle where, if they win, they can get whatever riches they may desire. It appears that back in 1982, Stephen King had the thought, “Well, my last post-apocalyptic idea was about walking, but what if they had to run instead?!”
Thus, The Running Man was born… well, it most likely didn’t happen that way, but it’s something I couldn’t help but think about since these two movies have been released so closely together. Although they may be thematically similar, The Long Walk is a bleak, depressing drama with not an ounce of hope. I get bummed just thinking about it. On the other hand, The Running Man is similarly bleak in its dystopian portrayal of the United States, but, like the titular game show, the primary goal is to entertain the audience.
From walking to running
I haven’t read Stephen King’s original novel, nor have I seen the 1986 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Running Man is one of those stories I’ve often heard about but never got around to reading or watching. So, when a new adaptation was announced, I didn’t really have any feelings one way or another. My curiosity was piqued when I saw it was to be written and directed by Edgar Wright, co-written by Michael Bacall, and starring an excellent cast featuring Glen Powell, Colman Domingo, and Josh Brolin, among many others.
The first word that comes to mind when I think of Edgar Wright is “energetic”. With movies like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Baby Driver, the guy runs at a rip-roaring pace that rarely lets up, with frenzied camerawork and precise, punchy editing to keep things constantly moving. With The Running Man centering around a game show where the protagonist is on the run and being hunted, Wright’s hyperactive sensibilities were an appropriate choice for bringing King’s dystopian world back to the big screen.
Wright co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Bacall, who last worked with him back in 2010 on Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. With Bacall being partially responsible for 21 and 22 Jump Street, two of the greatest comedies ever made, I had faith that he and Wright would be able to craft a sharp and funny satire with emotional resonance. They vividly drop you into the world of The Running Man, where you immediately understand the characters’ dilemmas and how hopeless their situation is. We get a good look into how people like Ben and his wife Sheila (Jayme Lawson) live, especially when trying to take care of their ill daughter.
Manufactured reality
Once the show officially kicks off, it’s full-on pedal to the metal excitement that rarely lets up. The tension is constant as Ben tries to evade detection by wearing disguises, with drones and armed hunters always on the lookout. Contestants are required to make daily video diaries in which Ben tries to expose The Network for its crimes, but they use deepfake technology to misrepresent his message and turn the public against him. Tech like this was literal science fiction back when King wrote this in the 80s, but if you’ve been seeing these heinous AI-generated videos making the rounds on social media lately, the lines between reality and fiction are blurred further every day.
Ben encounters other citizens who are also fighting the good fight against the totalitarian Network (whose logo is a giant red N, hmm…), played by terrific actors like William H. Macy, Daniel Ezra, and Michael Cera. Not everyone is willing to help, such as the young Amelia (Emilia Jones), who ignorantly believes The Network’s lies about Ben. She views him as a scummy, poor person abandoning his wife and child for fame and riches because he “doesn’t want to work for a living,” showing how the wealthy use propaganda to pit the people below them against each other.
Despite how many laughs I was having along the way, there was always a bit of a sickening feeling lurking at the pit of my stomach. The Running Man takes place in 2025, and while we aren’t exactly at the place we see depicted here, what King wrote about over 40 years ago feels more relevant than ever before. I’m honestly surprised we don’t already have some sort of Running Man competition that airs on TV, streaming, or the internet, but if society keeps allowing folks like Mr. Beast to exploit the working class for entertainment, it won’t be long.
Wright is right
Edgar Wright is one of those directors who gives the impression that he’s always trying to figure out the most interesting and dynamic way he can shoot something, even if it’s not conventional. An incredible car chase takes place almost entirely inside the trunk Ben is smuggled into, with nothing but a dull red light illuminating the scene until bullets fly in, leaving light streaming through the holes. What a novel way to shoot a car chase that’s just as intense as any other, even if we’re barely seeing anything at all.
Some of the fight scenes are difficult to decipher as Wright and editor Paul Machliss occasionally get too chaotic with the continuously moving camera and quick editing. Despite the brief moments of confusion, I was always perking up and on the edge of my seat during each action set piece. Wright makes excellent use of the various environments Ben runs through to keep the action sequences fresh, ensuring the rule of cool is always intact.
At 133 minutes, The Running Man is a tad too long and repetitive, especially in the iffy, drawn-out final act. It’s all still tense and exciting because of the sweet action and attachment we’ve built to Ben, but the script definitely could have been tightened up in a few places. Props to Wright and Bacall for not taking the easy way out with the ending, though. They could have easily gone the obvious route, but instead provided a resolution that actually provides a bit of hope after running through this dystopian hellhole alongside Ben.
Run for your life
Glen Powell continues to be a great leading man, with The Running Man being his best work yet. The trailers and marketing seem to be heavily focusing on the nuttier aspects of his performance, with lots of mugging to the camera while Ben records his video diaries. Powell definitely does plenty of that, but there’s a lot more nuance than you’d expect. Ben is an extremely angry character, but he’s not a completely unhinged maniac, mostly playing up that aspect for The Network.
Powell gets to be his usual charismatic self, but he’s turning in a performance with some legitimate depth here. You can feel both the love for his family and the rage he feels toward the system he’s forced to participate in. He may have anger issues, but he also has a heart and wants to be a good person, yet the system won’t allow him to. He has to embrace the worst parts of himself just to obtain love, with Powell really selling that internal conflict. He’s also just an awesome action star who’s fun to watch.
Josh Brolin is solid as the nefarious Running Man show producer Dan Killian, even if Brolin plays him like he does any other bad guy. He still has a detestable presence, making Powell even easier to root for. Colman Domingo was the best of them all as the deliciously sleazy The Running Man host Bobby T., oozing so much swagger and charisma that you can’t help but both love and hate him. Bobby T. may be the host of the game, but he’s a victim of The Network in his own right, with Domingo’s performance growing more frustrated, detached, and disillusioned as Ben tries to tear the system down around him.
Final verdict
Even if the satirical elements are beginning to feel all too disturbingly real, The Running Man provides the frantic, energetic excitement one would expect from an Edgar Wright film. The Running Man isn’t the type of show you’d want to participate in, nor a world you’d want to live in, but when you’re watching an actor like Glen Powell fight the power, how can you not keep watching? The Network will surely thank you for your service.
My rating: 8.5/10
The Running Man will be released in theaters nationwide on Thursday, Nov. 13.
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