The Running Man (2025) - Review

Rating: 3 out of 5

EDGAR Wright’s update of The Running Man hits the ground running and maintains a consistently high-octane energy but is ultimately let down by a disappointing third act.

The film is more of a direct adaptation of Stephen King’s source novel than a rehash of the Arnold Schwarzenegger star vehicle from 1987.

Hence, the dystopian warnings inherent in King’s book are very much front and centre here, feeling even more prescient in the context of both Trump’s America and what Britain could look like under a Reform-style government.

Here, a not too futuristic America is in thrall to a game show culture that offers participants high risk participation in exchange for the possibility of debt clearance and a better life.

It is the fascist TV execs who are in charge.

The most popular show of the moment is The Running Man, a survival show in which contestants must outrun professional assassins in order to claim their prize - a challenge no one has yet survived.

Enter Glen Powell’s Ben, an honest, hardworking guy, whose repeated attempts to shine a light on systemic corruption have cost him numerous jobs and compromised his ability to provide for his wife and sick child.

Ben is also aware that his wife Sheila (Jayme Lawson) is also being exploited at the club where she works as a waitress-slash-hostess, and desperate to prevent something unthinkable happening at her expense.

Hence, he enrols for The Running Man and must try and survive the ensuing 30 days, all the while being portrayed as a villain by TV exec Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), who is looking to exploit his ratings potential for ever increasing personal gain.

Wright’s film has a lot of ideas to juggle and does so while keeping things on the move - an impressive achievement early on as the film lands its blows where they are intended without compromising on the hardcore action.

Powell is a suitably charismatic lead, a sort of mix of fury and decency that inspires the rally against the system indignation that feels right for the material, while also channeling his inner Tom Cruise to embrace the physicality of the stunts.

Several sequences land with style (even though there’s nothing to rival the out and out brilliance and innovation of Wright’s Baby Driver) and serve to infuse the film with its energy (not least an extended sequence involving Michael Cera or Wright’s sustained ability to deliver cool cut needle drops).

The political commentary, meanwhile, effectively re-positions the real world tech giants as ruthless TV moguls, out to make a quick fortune and preserve self interest at the expense of the working classes, while simultaneously vilifying the poor or anyone who would dare speak out. Misinformation is seen as rife, while political corruption is everywhere.

Wright doesn’t opt for subtlety and the film is a blunt instrument in that regard, which actually makes its latter inability to deliver a telling ending all the more disappointing.

For once the film brings in a hostage situation and an airplane, the story becomes increasingly sloppy and even the action loses its grip. The story suddenly feels rushed and poorly written, with any comeuppances not really landing amid a severe lack of crowd-pleasing momentum.

It’s ironically the end credits that maintain the film’s punk energy, while the on-screen action peters out. It’s almost as if the film - or its financial backers - decided to pull its punches rather than really taking on the establishment or, even better, going for something even more bleak and dystopian.

For a film that flew so impressively out of the blocks, it’s all the more disappointing to find that it runs out of puff long before its finale.

Certificate: 15

Running time: 136mins