150 Word Review: 'The Running Man' (2025)
The price is fight
America is a reality TV show–based economy in The Running Man: The only way a working-class dad can save his sick kid is to survive 30 days while being hunted on camera by trained killers.
Edgar Wright is usually a clever, subversive director of genre movies. He’s subdued here. This is a responsible Hollywood adaptation of a Stephen King short story that doesn’t improve on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tighter, more flamboyant 1987 version.
Wright delivers some action-packed future shocks designed to please popcorn enthusiasts. Michael Cera shows up as a revolutionary in a booby-trapped house. If only the rest of the flick were as funny and bonkers as Cera taking on a small army of corporate thugs. I regret to inform you that I am a Glen Powell fan; he’s a looser, more combustible Matthew McConaughey. Colman Domingo is too genuine to play a game show host; Lee Pace is wasted.
This Year’s Other King Dystopia: ‘The Long Walk’ (2025)
Agreed, definitely better than the 87 film, but needed more of what was brought into THE LONG WALK (both written around the same time)... I believe Wright always struggles with endings and, well, third acts, and that really becomes apparent here, IMO.
Also, how nutty is it that King (Bachman) foresaw reality shows in the late 70s becoming what they would become? They didn't even really exist then.
There were many things to like, but the third act and finale were afterthoughts, in my view.
Sad to hear that overall, it seems this film is disappointing. I saw them at NY Comic Con and they showed several clips and it looked good!