The Running Man [Movie Review]

The Running Man [Movie Review] | Adapted from a Stephen King novel, this has all the makings of a gold mine. 

Or it could follow the familiar path of novel to film disasters. Which will it be?

SYNOPSIS

The Running Man (2025) Trivia

• Starring: Glen Powell, William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, Daniel Ezra, Jayme Lawson, Sean Hayes, Colman Domingo & Josh Brolin
• Director: Edgar Wright
• Producer: Simon Kinberg, Nira Park & Edgar Wright
• Production Company: Kinberg Genre & Complete Fiction

• Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
• Release date: November 14, 2025
• Running time: 133 minutes
• Rating: MA
• Country: United Kingdom & United States
• Language: English
• IMDb: 6.5/ 10
• Tomatometer: 64%
• Metascore: 56%
• Published in 1982, the book imagined a dystopian 2025. And the movie drops in 2025. The original 1987 movie, meanwhile, was set in 2017, a future that has already caught up with us. 
• Glen Powell revealed that Arnold Schwarzenegger, the original star of The Running Man (1987), personally gave him his full blessing. 
• The film repeatedly features Americano’s, a clear parody of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, complete with matching initials A A that mirror the Kardashian K K branding. 

In the near future, America is no longer governed by laws or leaders but by a screen. A media empire known simply as the Network dictates what people see, believe and fear. Most citizens live trapped in poverty with little access to healthcare or hope, pacified by a steady stream of violent game shows and degrading reality television. 

At the centre of this spectacle is the Network’s crown jewel, The Running Man. The premise is simple. Contestants known as runners must survive for thirty days to win one billion dollars. Five elite hunters, led by the elusive Evan McCone, track them across the country, while ordinary citizens are encouraged to join the chase by reporting the runners while they are on the run. Given a small sum of cash and a brief head start, the runners must film themselves daily to prove they are alive. Failure to film means forfeiture of the cash, but the pursuit continues.

Ben is a factory worker from the decaying slums of Co Op City who is now blacklisted for union activism and pushed to the margins of society. When his infant daughter falls ill and he cannot afford medicine, desperation corners him. Despite his wife Sheila’s fear and anger, Ben auditions for the Network and is selected for The Running Man alongside Tim Jansky and Jenni Laughlin. Executive producer Dan Killian seals the deal by offering an advance for the medicine and a promise of safety for Ben’s family.

The hunt begins swiftly and without mercy. Disguised and constantly moving, Ben watches fellow runners fall while the Network turns death into prime time spectacle. With each video filmed daily, he attempts to tell the truth, only for the video to be distorted into grotesque propaganda via deepfake, transforming Ben into a villain. Still, something unexpected happens. The poor and working class begin to see through the lies. In Ben’s defiance, they recognise their own.

As he moves from city to city, Ben is drawn into an underground network of resistance, people who risk everything to challenge the screen that rules them. Every escape tightens the grip around him. The hunters keep closing in on him.

Along the way, Ben crosses paths with those who have benefited from the Network’s illusion of safety and wealth. Some turn away. Others begin to question the world they have accepted. With surveillance tightening and the line between truth and fiction erased by deepfakes and spectacle, Ben is forced to confront a question larger than survival.

How far should he run until his voice is heard?

MY REVIEW

What I Like:  

• The concept is very near to all of us - not everything online is the truth.
• A lot of action that keeps you on your seat. 

What I Don't Like:

• The script could have been better and the character could have been developed stronger.  

Will I Watch It Again: I don't mind watching it again.

Overall: 4.2/ 5.0

The pictures are taken from multiple sources on the Internet. Thank you.

#TheRunningMan #Action #Thriller #RawlinsGLAM #RawlinsLifestyle #MovieReviewbyRawlins