1987’s Running Man, based on a Stephen King book, was made when Arnold Schwarzenegger was at the peak of his powers and the dystopian action movie is one of his better films from that time. This remake directed by Edgar Wright, who co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Bacall stars Glen Powell in the lead role of Ben Richards. He is a contestant in a gameshow called The Running Man, which pits contestants (“runners”) against a team of murderous Hunters whose job is to track them down and kill them. Any runner who can stay alive for 30 days wins the grand prize of $1 billion.
From memory, and it has been nearly 40 years since I saw it, Arnie’s turn as Richards was primarily a knockabout romp. Wright’s new movie is much more of a critique of our current society, chiefly how powerful men manipulate the public by creating people to hate. It also takes swipes at brain numbing reality TV and the increasing divide between haves and have nots.
That may make it sound dull, but it also works as a straight out action movie, peaking with a tremendous sequence where Ben and ally Elton (Michael Cera) escape from a house. I think the charismatic Powell is underrated and he excels, bringing range and depth to what could have been a thin role. Of a packed supporting cast, Josh Brolin and Colmon Domingo, as the show’s producer and presenter respectively and Emilia Jones as a privileged young woman who reluctantly teams up with Ben.
Wright keeps things moving pretty well, though with a lot of action taking place at night I thought it occasionally looked a bit murky.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10