Take 43: The Running Man (2025)
Glen Powell is The Running Man in this remake of the film of and novel of the same name written by Stephen King under the name Richard Bachman. Published in 1982, it follows the protagonist, Ben Richards, a loving husband and father who is forced to take a desperate gambit to in order to secure medical aid for his ailing daughter in the dystopian future of 2025! By competing in a realty show called The Running Man where contestants face impossible odds with the promise of a huge payoff, Ben hopes he can be the one person to beat the rigged system of the game for the betterment of his family. Not only must he evade “the Hunters”, he also has to contend with the public who are often weaponized against contestants who can report and sometimes become directly involved in the games proceedings, all in the name of ratings.
In the past year or so, I have become a huge fan of Glen Powell. He’s got charm, charisma, and is built like a freaking lean brick house, all of which make for perfect casting here as an Everyman good-guy protagonist. He has you in the palm of his hand as soon as he opens his mouth. At this point, it really is pretty much just type casting, but with a movie like this, that’s all you need. He delivers.
Although this is clearly Powell’s show, the casting in this is pretty stacked. Colman Domingo is the Bobby Thompson, the just flamboyant enough without being too much host. He never quite steals his scenes, but he adds just enough pizazz to the moments he is on screen. Josh Brolin is smug and arrogant from start to finish and is in his element. Lee Pace gets to ham it up as another antagonist. We also get Sean Hayes, Michael Cera, and William H. Macy. Although a relatively minor presence, Jayme Lawson is Ben’s wife and it’s nice to see her making the rounds as an up-and-coming “It” girl. This stuff isn’t meant to be Shakespeare, so they don’t exactly have to swing for the fences.
It’s been a while since I watched the original, but I have found memories of it and it was one of my favorite action films of the 80s. I started the audio a few days in preparation of seeing this and am about halfway through it, so going in I had a decent idea of what to expect. There are definitely some major contrasts. In the book, Ben is a good guy, when all is said and done, but isn’t a nice guy. In the novel, he actually started off “a little racist.” He overcomes that once he is added by an African American family so we do see some growth for his character. Here, he is already evolved- he’s married to a Black woman and loves her and their child completely. In these sensitive political times, I get why they’d avoid that element altogether, and I appreciate it. There are still plenty of other timely issues, such as the issue of class, the rot that is reality TV, and the threat of A.I. to name a few.
My memories of the original film are definitely move off the top. I can recall several literal Mega Man-style style boss characters and battles in the first one. Those are pretty much gone here. The Hunters are pretty generic with the exception of the main one and as can be expected, gets the biggest fight scene. Overall, it does feel a little smaller, but I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing.
This movie is at its best when it sticks to the main concept- Ben on the run is a lot of fun. Where it lags a bit is about 90 minutes in when he is less isolate and running less. By the time that Emilia Jones enters, it also starts to feel a lit rushed. He character does a 180 pretty quickly and for me, slowed the momentum a little. Like seriously, did she really add much to the overall narrative? This is towards the end and fortunately, the movie knows when it’s time to wrap itself up which I can definitely appreciate. I will be curious to finish the novel to see if the slight pacing hiccup is there as well.
But overall, I liked it. I wouldn’t say you need to run to the theater to catch it, but may walk quickly as it probably won’t be long in the theater
My score 7.6
Got something to say about my take? Run to the comments section and post your thoughts. And until then… I’ve gotta run…
