The following review contains spoilers for “The Running Man”
Stephen King has had quite the year on the big screen. In the past year, King’s story “The Life of Chuck” and novel “The Long Walk” have been adapted into well-received films. Following these projects, “The Running Man” comes at a time when King’s stories have newfound relevance and intrigue. However, “The Running Man” enters the race with two left feet.
Based on King’s 1982 novel of the same name, “The Running Man” centers around Ben Richards (Glen Powell), a worker from the slums of a dystopian United States. Having been blacklisted from the job market and desperate to support his family, Richards decides to participate in the film’s titular game show. “The Running Man” is one of the many over-the-top, violent game shows developed by The Network, a corporate entity that has gained governmental control. As he attempts to survive the game’s thirty-day period, Richards’ actions slowly turn into a call for resistance.
There is no denying that “The Running Man” is entertaining. Its action is larger than life, tumbling from one crash to another in rapid succession. A particularly fun sequence takes place at the home of underground revolutionary Elton Perrakis, played by the wonderfully odd Michael Cera. As corporate-hired agents invade the house, Perrakis sets off traps, laughing with pure glee as he creates multiple chains of destruction. Director Edgar Wright’s signature brand of chaos appears the most in these moments, a welcome sight in an otherwise by-the-books film.
It’s the lack of Wright’s distinct controlled chaos that makes “The Running Man” feel all the more trivial. Despite his role as director and one of the writers on the project, there is barely a hint of the usual charm and grandiose fun that characterizes his filmography. Most of the film’s shots fit into the basic style of Hollywood action movies. The film is loud, with sound effects, background music and sometimes a messy combination of both in nearly every scene. The result is a dizzying sequence of events that blur together. Yes, the game in itself is one of chaos, but “The Running Man” often veers too much into the territory of complete disarray.
Within this chaos, the film is further split by the cast’s uneven performances, particularly Josh Brolin’s Dan Killian, the sinister producer behind the games. Brolin is no stranger to villainous roles, yet Killian falls flat. Relegated to the man behind the desk, Killian often appears only through phone calls and video chats, separate from the rest of the characters, which lessens his impact. Brolin rarely gets to act physically, limiting the punches he can pull as the all-powerful, corrupt corporate man.
Powell, too, feels stifled by the film, although his charm does come through in bits and pieces in Richards’ unhinged nature. Richards is an incredibly angry man and Powell commits to this anger with such conviction that it’s comical, yet the sincerity of his performance makes the ridiculously furious power walks and squinted glares work.
Above all, the film’s biggest weakness is its tendency to share its message directly through the characters. Richards is used most frequently as the moral messenger, with many of his lines in the film’s final act serving to admonish the corruption of corporate entities and the harmful complacency of the public. This direct messaging creates a soap-opera-like quality in “The Running Man.” The film’s final shot is an over-dramatic image where Richards, who was presumed dead, returns in a flash of fire, a gun in hand as he returns for retribution against Killian. There is no need for the film to go to these lengths to deliver its central message — the film’s premise itself is already a clear critique of the danger of mass corporate-run entertainment.
While a high-energy, fun action flick, “The Running Man” does not fully capture the heart of King’s original work. There are hints of a stronger, more complex story throughout the film, such as through Richard’s reckoning of his all-consuming anger and Lee Pace’s Evan McCone, a contracted killer who is revealed to have originally been a contestant himself. Yet, the film gets caught up in its own action. For a film focused on a rallying cry against the system, “The Running Man” conforms too closely to the standard, making it impossible for it to truly achieve the ambitious goals it sets out to reach.
