The Running Man | The Deight Night Review
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| The Running Man (2025, Edgar Wright, Paramount Pictures) |
Edgar Wright's passion for the medium of cinema is probably the most obvious of any director of his generation. With his social media stream of film recommendations and his willingness to attend events dedicated to films he had no involvement in making, he truly is the film buff's film maker. It seems almost shocking then that, in this current cinematic climate where nothing can get greenlit by studios without some form of known brand attached to a project, that it's taken this veritable film aficionado so long to craft a remake of a beloved classic of a bygone era. Of course, many of his latest films are homages that wear their influences on their sleeves, but The Running Man is Wright's first true remake and is an example of the best of its kind - one that's not only a love letter to the original, but to the art as a whole.
2025's The Running Man takes place in very much the same environment as its predecessor, the world is in economic turmoil and Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is desperate for work, looking for money to pay for his child's illness. Against his wife's (Jayme Lawson) wishes, he goes to audition for a TV game show in the hopes of winning the prize money he so desperately needs. All of the game shows in this world are dangerous, but none so much as "The Running Man", which Richards is chosen for against his will by its sly producer, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin). "The Running Man" pits its contestants against the entire country for if they can avoid detection from both the population and the infamous Hunters for 30 days, they win enough money to make them one of the 1%. However, in a world where the truth is hard to come by and money is more valuable than human life, winning The Running Man isn't quite as simple as just running.
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| The Running Man (2025, Edgar Wright, Paramount Pictures) |
The obvious highlight of The Running Man is the game itself, which logically takes up a vast majority of the film's runtime. While the new version of the show certainly pays homage to the games that Arnold Schwarzenegger competed in over 30 years ago (e.g. there's a dancing troupe at the show's start and the contestants are fired down a very aggressive tunnel to begin), the game Glen Powell plays is a very different beast, and a far more compelling one at that. Instead of being plunged into a large arena filled with "Stalkers" (Gladiators by another name), Powell is dumped onto the street to evade the entire country, with each member of the public offered a significant reward for his detection. Not only that, but the Police (or Goons) are owned by the network who broadcast the show and are on his trail as well as the Hunters, led by Lee Pace's Chief McCone. These trackers are a very sinister group of killers who stalk Powell throughout the game, adding such glorious tension to each scene of Richards on the run.
The games are made all the more tense and fun by Wright's expert direction and signature wit, with every scene following Richards on the street being some of the tensest and nail biting cinema of the year as well as being just as much of a laugh. While the hunt for Richards is certainly brilliant, it's given all the more life by "The Running Man"'s presenter Bobby T, played by the soon to become legendary Colman Domingo. The entire pursuit of Ben Richards is given an immensely dulcet and diegetic narration by Domingo's Bobby T that's such a novel and exciting addition to the film. It makes the show feel real and gives the film so much more character as a result. It gives an aura that Richards is never truly safe, adding to an atmosphere that is so tense and impossible to avert your eyes from.
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| The Running Man (2025, Edgar Wright, Paramount Pictures) |
The original The Running Man is a fun action romp of its era but you never really fear for Ben Richards' safety, for one, he's played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, and two, he doesn't have much to fight for. Powell's Richards isn't as tough as Arnie's but he's far angrier. Angrier at the sick world he inhabits and angry that he can't afford to support his family, the family who he's risking his life for. There's simply so many more stakes to Wright's The Running Man and as a result it's far deeper. Sprinkled throughout the film are references to how the 1% control the truth to maintain their wealth and this all leads to a brilliantly thematic and emotional crescendo in the film's final act that puts a very timely mirror up to the audience watching the film and makes The Running Man one of the boldest action films of the year.
Unsurprisingly, Ben Richards gives the already charismatic Glen Powell the chance to really shine as the furious underdog hero with an axe to grind with society. His role involves many an impassioned and riveting speech that will often bring a tear to the eye or a lump to the throat and it's an absolute treat to root for this working man as he evades being spotted by an entire country of hungry and desperate people. Though The Running Man is very much an ensemble piece with excellent performances throughout; alongside the aforementioned Domingo is the far more sinister Dan Killian played by the ever reliable Josh Brolin. Brolin's not in the film much but his sinister presence hasn't been felt this coldly since his legendary turn as Thanos. Each scene he steals with his sleazy corporate two faced nature, Killian is yet another role to add to Brolin's vast collection of great performances that will surely one day lead him to Oscar glory.
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| The Running Man (2025, Edgar Wright, Paramount Pictures) |
Another cast member who certainly can't go on unrecognised is the masked Lee Pace who brings a much more dangerous edge to the hunt than any of the bombastic Stalkers of Arnie's game. Pace's McCone is ruthless and a stone cold killer that acts as the game's main antagonist, but also the trigger man for Killian's network. His character seems so deadly that it always seems impossible for Richards to escape his sights. Adding to his chilling screen time is his distinguished costume design that would surely have become a Halloween favourite had this film come out a few months earlier. The costume's sinister simplicity makes him far more terrifying than the likes of Dynamo and Fireball from the 1987 film.
With his burning passion for cinema, Edgar Wright takes a film that was already pretty good to begin with and turns it into something truly special simply by turning up the volume of every facet of what made the original the classic that it is. The games are more tense, the tone is more fun, the acting's far better and the themes cut so much deeper. The Running Man is a timely and glorious remake that surpasses its predecessor in every way while also very much carrying on its legacy and not doing anything to erase it. Put simply, it's one of Wright's best efforts since the end of The Cornetto Trilogy.
★★★★1/2
