Ever since his big breakthrough with his debut novel “Carrie” in 1974, Stephen King has been an integral part of Hollywood. Hardly any other author produces film and series adaptations as reliably as the horror pope, who is still incredibly productive even after decades. The whole thing took on greater dimensions again with the gigantic success of the celebrated “ES” remake from 2017. Not only were new King adaptations announced every week, but larger budgets were also sometimes made available for them. And because it worked so well with “IT” and they probably didn’t want to dig so deeply into the more abstruse realms of King’s work, further film adaptations of stories that had already been made into films before were given the green light.
After disappointments such as the “Cemetery of the Cuddly Toys”, “Firestarter” and “Salem's Lot” re-releases, “The Running Man” can now flash across the screens again – with a budget four times higher than that of the cult film adaptation with Arnold Schwarzenegger from 1987, which was cult but clearly fell short of its potential. You can definitely see this in the dystopian sci-fi adventure by “Shaun Of The Dead” and “Baby Driver” mastermind Edgar Wright, because it provides entertaining action fun over long stretches. But towards the end the film noticeably runs out of steam.
The cheerful show glamor is deceptive: The show “Running Man” is actually hard to beat in terms of its contempt for humanity.
In a near-future surveillance state, Ben Richards (Glen Powell) and his wife Sheila (Jayme Lawson) struggle every day to provide for themselves and their young daughter. However, when Ben loses his factory job and his parents can no longer afford the medication for their sick offspring, the father of the family becomes desperate.
He decides to go to a casting for the inhumane television shows that offer cash prizes from a corporation that dominates the entire society – and ends up in the deadliest one. As a contestant on “The Running Man,” Ben must manage to survive for 30 days as a group of hunters mercilessly pursue him across the country, rewarding anyone who has clues to his whereabouts…
The expanded setting is one of its greatest qualities
One thing can definitely be said to the credit of the new “Running Man”: It is based much more closely than the Arnie version, which was only loosely inspired by it, on the novel “Manhunt” on which it is based, which Stephen King published in 1982 under his pseudonym Richard Bachman (unlike the first film adaptation, King himself is now also a producer here). And that's really the film's greatest strength. While the events in 1987 were still limited to a fairly manageable, barren arena, now virtually the entire USA serves as a venue for the brutal race that captivates the sensation-seeking masses in front of the screens.
This much larger playground in which the film can let off steam is what makes the “man hunt” such a thing in the first place. This also gives us a better insight into the actual dystopian world outside of the perfidious game shows, without the world building being too clumsily thrown at you. Above all, the setup causes constant paranoia and therefore constant tension. Anyone could betray Ben to the game masters and hunters in order to cash in for themselves. In order not to attract attention, the fugitive resorts to various identities and – more or less – convincing disguises. Nevertheless, it usually doesn't take long for his pursuers to find out about him – even if it sometimes seems a bit contrived how it actually happens. The tempo is kept high for a long time, neither Ben nor the audience get a real breather.
Ben Richards (Glen Powell) has to fight for his survival – will he be able to last 30 days?
The action serves its purpose, but also lacks any real highlights. When a hunter raids a hotel in an appropriately dynamic manner, there is at least a lot of bang. But two scenes in a small space are most likely to provide visual accents. When an oppressive, claustrophobic trip in a trunk suddenly turns seamlessly into a shootout or an airplane cockpit becomes the scene of a bloody confrontation, something of the playfulness and ingenuity for which Edgar Wright is so well known is most likely to shine through. But unfortunately this is far too rarely the case.
It's particularly unfortunate that the core element of the film fades further and further into the background as the running time increases. The appearance of Wright's “Scott Pilgrim vs. the Rest of the World” lead actor Michael Cera as a walking system critic cliché noticeably slows down the constant hunt. When the mechanisms behind the sadistic regime of “Running Man” boss Dan Killian (beautifully diabolical: Josh Brolin) become more and more exposed, the threat that was previously carefully constructed runs the risk of completely fizzling out.
Glen Powell's charm carries through the film
In general, Wright and his co-author Michael Bacall (“Scott Pilgrim,” “21 Jump Street”) sometimes have difficulty balancing ruthless action thrillers, emotional family history and darkly humorous reckoning in a tonally elegant manner. Nevertheless, the satirical points against jaded media consumption and the divisive, opinion-forming manipulation of the truth are mostly effective – especially since today they are more of a social mirror than a visionary warning.
And the fact that you keep your fingers crossed for Ben until the end, despite all the bumps, is not least due to shooting star Glen Powell, who, after films like “Where the Lie Falls” and “Twisters”, once again proves his leading man qualities. His slightly too smooth Ben Richards has hardly any rough edges despite a tendency to outbursts of anger, but Powell exudes so much charm that you could easily join the crowd of fans that Ben gathers behind him over the course of the film. Not to mention the physicality required!
Conclusion: “The Running Man” lives up to its title for a while. However, the initially fast-paced cat-and-mouse game loses a lot of speed in the last third, which director Edgar Wright can hardly compensate for with his unusually poor production. A great Glen Powell saves the still solid sci-fi actioner over the finish line.