Director Edgar Wright has brought a new version of Stephen King’s “The Running Man” to audiences, and with it a more faithful yet modernized take than the prior cinematic offering starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
King wrote the story under his pseudonym Richard Bachman, and like the previously adapted “The Long Walk”, provided two of the best dystopian thrillers of the era, and ones that quickly became favorites of mine during my teenage years.
Glen Powell stars as Ben Richards, and man desperate to earn money for his ill daughter. The system has blacklisted Ben due to what is seen as repeated insubordination and his union reporting over unsafe radiation conditions.
Desperate to save his daughter from an easily controlled fever for those with money, Ben crosses security zones into an area of prosperity to audition for the extreme game shows that entertain the masses. People from Ben’s part of town are little more than cannon fodder to the extreme shows and police units have no problem beating down individuals for simply getting out of line while trying to assist another.
Ben is put through a series of physical and psychological evaluations and is assigned to a show known as The Running Man, where contestants are hunted by a team of hunters and are fair game for civilians who can earn rewards for reporting or eliminating contestants.
Unwilling to take part in a deadly game, Producer Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) persuades Ben with some upfront money to care for his daughter and the promise that they will be looked after as significant money is earned each day that Ben stays alive, as well as with bonuses should he be able to eliminate a hunter or achieve other goals.
Ben and his fellow contestants take the stage and soon see that host Bobby T. (Colman Domingo) has manipulated his backstory to make him appear to be an ungrateful deadbeat, unwilling to work with contempt for the role of law and society.
This is done in an effort to inflame the billions of people who watch the show and make them hostile to the contestants.
As the game unfolds, Ben adopts various disguises and tactics in order to avoid the hunters. After a narrow escape, he soon finds himself being aided by an unexpected source, who informs him that the show is rigged and that his contestant type is allowed to be the final target in order to drum up ratings.
Accepting an offer of help with a strategy to hide out the remaining days in order to collect his 1 billion reward in new dollars, Ben finds himself becoming a folk hero due to his close escape, which is recorded on floating cameras whenever police or hunters approach him.
As the stakes grow, Ben finds himself desperate not only to survive but to navigate a system that is clearly designed to keep him and others like him from succeeding.
The film does drag a bit during the third act as it seems to be unsure if it wants to put the pedal down and go full-on action or if it wants to make political and social statements that, for some, will seem even more relevant now than when the story was originally written.
Thankfully, the charismatic lead’s an effective finale works very well, and while elements appeared a bit extreme and tacked on after the majority of the conflict was addressed, it still made for an effective and enjoyable story.
Powell continues to underscore his leading man ability as he carries the film in large parts when his solid supporting cast is not around due to the nature of the story being a lone individual against the world.
The theme of media manipulating the masses and providing concocted narratives is also very interesting, as in this day of A.I. concerns, seeing how images could easily be manipulated to sell a desired narrative to the public, who is all too eager to accept what is presented without question, is timely.
Fans of the story and dystopian science fiction should find enough elements to enjoy and make this an effective adaptation of King’s work.
3.5 stars out of 5
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