'The Running Man' A Review

The Running Man is a dystopian action movie, an adaptation of the Stephen King novel. In the near future the US is under corporate authoritarian rule and the majority of the population live on poverty pacified by reality TV. Ben Richards(Glenn Powell) enrolls in the most dangerous program, the titular Running Man, in order to afford medicine for his ailing baby.

Powell was good in his breakout Everybody Wants Some!! he was good as the fourth on the call sheet in Top Gun: Maverick but he's not a leading man(at least not yet). His performance here is all posturing, all performative, all indicating and falseness. He is uncompelling and unbelievable. And as the movie is in some ways episodic as he continues his run there is no other characters for him to really build rapport with and neither his character nor any other develops in anyway. The supporting cast is mostly good but there are problems with the script, there's a tension in what the movie wants to be- the comedy, the commentary, or the action. The result is kind of a mess with Powell who is trying too hard to project some pre-loaded expectation rather than just acting.

Although extensively CGI'd visually the world created is cool looking and intricate. The soundtrack catchy, the action well choregraphed and shot. But it's just got no juice, no spark, no thrill. Because Powell isn't compelling the stakes of the whole thing feel meaningless and the machinations of the commentary are watered down and muddled to the point it loses any bite(during a time when it couldn't be more relevant!). For example, a scene where Michael Cera's character monologues about class revolution he ends it with a swigging a Monster energy drink, cringe. It all feels like something more appropriately dumped to streaming rather than a blockbuster.

Overlong, weak lead, convoluted plotting, enough good action to put on during chores.

Currently in theaters.

Stream It.