When The Running Man <\/em>was first published in 1982 under Stephen King\u2019s Richard Bachman pseudonym, the United States was just beginning to feel the impacts of then-president Ronald Reagan\u2019s neoliberal economic policies. Under Reaganomics, massive tax breaks for the wealthy and deep cuts to social safety programs like food stamps and Medicaid drastically intensified income inequality. The rich got richer, poverty spiked amid a recession, and King used his novel to explore the ways that those kinds of changes could turn society into a dystopia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Aside from its title, character names, and core premise, Tri-Star\u2019s 1987 adaptation of The Running Man <\/em>starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was a very different kind of story: a big, bombastic send-up of \u201880s pop culture punctuated by appearances from professional wrestlers and jokes about Schwarzenegger being the world\u2019s biggest action star. But that Running Man <\/em>still worked as commentary about how grueling life can be for people who aren\u2019t part of the one percent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Paramount Skydance\u2019s new spin on The Running Man<\/em><\/a> from Edgar Wright splits the difference between the \u201880s film and King\u2019s novel. It cleaves much closer to the source material while knowingly \u2014 but not always successfully \u2014 aping the older movie\u2019s narrative tone. Though this Running Man <\/em>leans into a kind of absurdity Wright typically thrives in, here, it feels like he\u2019s holding back on a lot of the directorial panache he\u2019s best known for from films like Hot Fuzz <\/em>and Baby Driver.<\/em> But as surprisingly formulaic as the new Running Man <\/em>is, its ideas about living in a world shaped by surveillance tech and media empires controlled by ghouls feel especially pointed in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Set in a not-too-distant future where the United States has become an even more draconian police state, The Running Man <\/em>centers on Ben Richards (Glen Powell), a blacklisted laborer who can\u2019t find the work he needs to buy medicine for his sickly daughter. Though Ben\u2019s wife Sheila (Jayme Lawson) is able to scrape enough money together to get her hands on drops that soothe their baby\u2019s symptoms, they both know that the stuff isn\u2019t enough to knock her flu out. Sheila\u2019s willing to take on more waitress shifts at a seedy nightclub to make ends meet. But Ben would much rather she stay home while he makes some quick cash participating in one of the twisted game shows that airs on the state-owned Free-Vee Network.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ben plans to sign up for one of Free-Vee\u2019s less deadly shows like Speed the Wheel<\/em> where contestants have to answer trivia questions while running on human-sized hamster wheels in order to avoid being flung off and down into a pit. But when Ben explodes in rage at a Free-Vee employee for mentioning his sick daughter, he catches the eye of Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), head producer of the network\u2019s most popular show, The Running Man.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Some of the differences between Wright\u2019s Running Man<\/em> and its \u201880s big screen predecessor are readily apparent as soon as the new movie opens. This Richards is a blue collar family man instead of a military pilot imprisoned for a crime he didn\u2019t commit, and he\u2019s from the fictional Co-Op City on the east coast rather than California. But the degree to which this new film is committed following the beats of King\u2019s novel doesn\u2019t become clear until Richards is dropped into the in-universe Running Man <\/em>show.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n To win the $1 billion competition, contestants have to go on the run while avoiding professional Hunters like Evan McCone (Lee Pace) and civilians who can earn cash prizes by alerting producers to runners\u2019 whereabouts. The whole thing is like one big, deadly, televised (squid) game of tag where people watching at home are encouraged to participate. All Richards has to do is survive 30 days, which is much easier said than done.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Aside from a few promising needle drops in the film\u2019s first act, there is very little of Wright\u2019s signature storytelling flair throughout The Running Man<\/em>. Instead, the movie plays things very straight \u2014 which isn\u2019t to say that it\u2019s boring or overserious \u2014 in a way that makes it feel like a throwback to classic \u201880s action movies. The Running Man <\/em>moves at a breakneck pace as the contestants are tossed onto the street and given a 12 hour head start to figure out how they\u2019ll survive. Some choose to let fate take the wheel while others play directly to the remote controlled drone camera figuring that becoming audience favorites might keep them alive. But Richards dons a series of ridiculous disguises to hide his identity, a detail that \u2014 even though it\u2019s pulled from the novel \u2014 makes the character feel like a goofy riff on Powell\u2019s role in Netflix\u2019s Hit Man<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Between its cheesy dialogue and ridiculous commercial breaks for other fictional shows like the Kardashian-inspired Americanos<\/em>, you can tell that The Running Man <\/em>is being intentionally silly while commenting on our current moment in reality TV programming. The movie\u2019s constant references to Free-Vee (not to be confused with Amazon\u2019s defunct streaming service<\/a>) being run by pro-authoritarian maniacs who use television to manipulate the public<\/a> would be a whole lot funnier if the feature weren\u2019t a Paramount Skydance<\/a> production. That said, the way The Running Man <\/em>presents surveillance entertainment and the content-ification of peoples\u2019 lives as symptoms of a deeply screwed society makes it feel like Wright is cooking at least a little bit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This Running Man <\/em>does start to get somewhat lost as it races into its final act in a rushed flurry of over-the-top action sequences and detours into other locales<\/a> from King\u2019s larger, interconnected universe. But in a year that\u2019s been flush<\/a> with new<\/a> King adaptations<\/a>, this one manages to be a fun ride with something to say.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Running Man <\/em>also stars Colman Domingo, William H. Macy, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, Katy O\u2019Brian, Sean Hayes, David Zayas, and Debi Mazar. The movie is in theaters now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n