One could say it’s ironic that Edgar Wright’s The Running Man (2025) is not only the fourth Stephen King film adaptation released in theaters this year, but also the second to take place in a dystopian America riddled with authoritarianism, following The Long Walk. Like The Long Walk, Wright’s version of The Running Man is a clear jab at the current wave of fascism in America under the Trump administration, except with a much more satirical approach. The film attempts to blend signature Verhoeven camp and the compact, kinetic action and editing for which Wright is renowned. Unfortunately, this film just never comes together.
The Running Man is a clear representation of where Wright currently stands as a filmmaker in that he hasn’t been able to craft anything truly exciting since Baby Driver (2017). Its tonal inflections are all over the place, the third act deflates, and while it has a few moments of well-helmed tension and thrills, they’re never anywhere near the Wright of old. Glen Powell flexes some great leading chops, and the cast on the whole gives it their all, but The Running Man is frustratingly inert, just running in circles, cementing itself as one of the year’s biggest disappointments.
The film takes place in a dystopian near-future, focusing on the life of struggling working man Ben Richards (Powell), who, along with his wife Sheila (Jayme Lawson), struggles each day to find jobs and care for their sick daughter within the slum. After deciding to try out for many of the game shows for his network, Ben strikes a deal with producer Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) to star in the network’s most dangerous game with the biggest reward, the titular Running Man.
For thirty days, Ben must survive an entire nation hunting him and two other contestants down to the death. As civilians and the network’s hunters led by Evan McCone (Lee Pace) track Ben down, he begins to win the favor of the people with his grit and will to live, making him the show’s most successful contestant yet. With Killian chasing the high of ratings and Ben on the run to change his family’s life for the better, he must outwit an entire nation that’s addicted to seeing him fail.
While still lacking, Wright admittedly brings more scope to the story in ways that were underdeveloped in the material’s first adaptation—1987’s Arnold Schwarzenegger-led Running Man. The layers of propaganda within Killian’s company run deeper, and the film has a few moments of ingenuity within action beats that never make the story truly boring. Signature transitions and quick editing tricks from Wright are always appreciated.
Powell makes for a compelling lead as this version of Ben. I appreciate how many of Ben’s traits as a character are Powell playing against his charming strengths. He is angry all the time, and while the film can play jokes from that angle, it also brings out aspects of performance we’ve never really seen from Powell, and it saves the movie from falling any lower in quality. Even minor cast members of the film, like Katy O’Brian, Michael Cera, and Colman Domingo, bring their own unique flavor to their characters, giving the movie some energy.
The main issue within The Running Man is the tone of its political satire. Like The Long Walk before it, the film definitely fits right into the same vein as The Hunger Games Franchise; Exploring an America that profits off televising the killing of other people for entertainment. The updated inflections they bring to the propaganda, like straight-up deep fakes of Ben saying and doing things he never actually did, and corny commercials and TV parodies of the Kardashians, are cool updates to the material, but the tonal clashes of campy satire and complete seriousness about the cesspool of this society really don’t work.
The film’s satire is just never fully formed in a new or interesting way. When the film takes a more serious turn, explicitly laying out its messaging and trying to really be about something, not only does it play out in the most plain manner, but it consistently clashes with the more unfunny and campy attempts at humor. Anything interesting the film brings is lost in the broad strokes of its narrative touches. Wright and Michael Bacall’s screenplay is all over the place to the point where the film has no identity.
Even the touches of well-executed action in the first half dissipate more as the film goes on, leading to a last third that feels like it adds an extra hour to the film’s runtime. In the final stretch, the film loses any momentum and, in an attempt to save itself, it creates a bombastic ending that is nothing but elongated fluff that only furthered minor issues in the first half.
The Running Man is never an awful experience, but by the time it reaches its end, it becomes an ultimate crescendo of mundane emptiness. Even with a fun lead performance from Powell, its overlong runtime and tonal whiplash within its satire ultimately make it more of a disappointing experience. Wright will never be devoid of talent, but with each recent feature film, he’s been moving farther from the streamlined electric filmmaking he’s known for.
Review Courtesy of Joshua Mbonu
Feature Image Credit to Paramount Pictures via The Wrap