{"id":32446,"date":"2025-11-12T23:23:50","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T07:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=32446"},"modified":"2025-11-12T23:23:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T07:23:50","slug":"the-running-man-has-its-moments-but-doesnt-quite-cross-the-finish-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=32446","title":{"rendered":"THE RUNNING MAN Has Some Good Action, But Doesn\u2019t Quite Cross the Finish Line"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Running Time: 133 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from Paramount Pictures will open\nexclusively in theaters and on IMAX screens November 11th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been a prolific time at the cinema for Stephen King\nadaptations. In the past year, we\u2019ve seen The Monkey, The Life of Chuck<\/em>\nand The Long Walk<\/em> (based on a grim and dystopian book released under the\npen name Richard Bachman). This week sees another title based on a work created\nunder the Bachman pseudonym. The Running Man<\/em> was also previously\ntransformed in 1987 as an Arnold Schwarzenegger action vehicle. It was a loose\ntranslation but one that did make a lasting impression on audiences of the era.\nThis edition of the story generally stays closer in tone and plot to the book,\nbut not without its own set of changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a near-future time, the one-percent live in luxury, while\nthe rest of the country struggles to provide the basic necessities of life. A\nfrustrated Ben Richards (Glen Powell) has lost several jobs for\ninsubordination, which includes trying to help others on the job. When his\ninfant daughter gets sick, he and wife Sheila (Jayne Lawson) have no way to pay\nfor medicine. Desperate, he decides to audition for any game show in which he\ncan earn fast cash. He and fellow tryouts Laughlin (Katy O\u2019Brian) and Jansky\n(Martin Herlihy) are chosen by producer Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) to appear on The\nRunning Man<\/em>, the most popular show in America. Hosted by Bobby Thompson\n(Colman Domingo), contestants are pursued by heavily armed hunters and drones.\nIf they can avoid being killed for 30 days, they win $1 billion dollars. As you\nmight have already guessed, the seemingly impossible task becomes even harder\nwhen it\u2019s revealed that the public get bonuses for snitching on the runners,\nand the network isn\u2019t playing fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director\/co-writer Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot\nFuzz, Baby Driver<\/em>) certainly knows how to shoot action as well as insert\nsome clever moments of satire within the dread-inducing scenario. Early on, all\nsorts of inane programs and humiliating game shows are depicted to an adoring\nand uneducated and manipulated audience. They are so addicted to the show,\nmisspellings in signs and messages around the city are rampant. The film also\ndepicts how the show uses AI to alter events and make viewers actively hate\nRichards, who is consistently infuriated by his depiction. These observations\nand set-design eccentricities are remarkably bleak, but delivered in a darkly\nhumorous fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And there are actually a few fun moments as the protagonist\nattempts to adopt some very exaggerated disguises to hide himself, including\nthat of an Irish priest (which does stand out as odd in such a distressed\nenvironment) as well as deal with potential reports by those around him. The\naction scenes are also extremely well-shot and dynamic. There\u2019s a thrilling\nchase through a dilapidated hotel which finds the lead venturing outside,\nracing through hallways while avoiding gunfire, and diving down some unusual\nspaces to avoid being shot by villains. Powell handles the action well, and\nalways appears like he is on the ropes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a lot of excellent stuff in the movie, but it does\nhave some problems as it progresses. The movie does go out of its way to\nexplicitly state its themes after Richards hijacks a car driven by an\nupper-class socialite (Emilia Jones). While the message is important, it\u2019s\nhurried into an argument and delivered in an on-the-nose manner. The finale is\nalso a letdown, especially to those who have read the source material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film does a good job of balancing action and humor with\na deeper message early on, but it pulls its punches during the climax. Several\ncharacters very quickly come to understand what\u2019s occurring around them and\nturn a corner, with events being tied up neatly. One of the titles from earlier\nin the year with a similarly grim tone and did not offer easy solutions to the\nscenario depicted and leaves a lasting impression. This picture closes on a\nnote that isn\u2019t nearly as convincing and almost feels like a last-minute\nrewrite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Running Man<\/em> is certainly meaner than the original\nfilm and does feel timely. The cast is fine, the action is well-delivered, and\nsome of the satirical elements work effectively. But there are awkward moments,\nas well as an overly clean denouement that appears to want to make you feel\nsomething different from the tone established early on. This lessens the film\u2019s\noverall impact. In the end, these missteps are what keeps this decent action\nfilm from being exceptional. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 133 minutes This feature from Paramount Pictures will open exclusively in theaters and on IMAX screens November 11th. It has been a prolific time at the cinema for Stephen King adaptations. In the past year, we\u2019ve seen The Monkey, The Life of Chuck and The Long Walk (based on a grim and dystopian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":32447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[216,697,3306,4628,6638,6717,6909,8018,8079,8379,10482,11045,11525,13310,15707,16750,19051,22113,22114,22116,22117],"class_list":["post-32446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-216","tag-action","tag-book-to-film-adaptation","tag-colman-domingo","tag-dystopia","tag-edgar-wright","tag-emilia-jones","tag-future","tag-game-show","tag-glen-powell","tag-jayne-lawson","tag-josh-brolin","tag-katy-obrian","tag-martin-herlihy","tag-paramount-pictures","tag-reality-game-show","tag-stephen-king","tag-the-running-man","tag-the-running-man-film-review","tag-the-running-man-movie-review","tag-the-running-man-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32446\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}