The Running Man review

 

Writing as Richard Bachman, Stephen King’s original novel was actually set in 2025 so it seems appropriate for a new adaptation to emerge this year. The tale envisages a dystopian future in which media is used a means to distract people and is not always as true as it seems– as if that could happen! The lowest strata of society are eager to compete on a whole range of game shows ranging from the cheesy to the lethal which are uncannily recognisable. The biggest show is Running Man in which three carefully selected people try to survive for thirty days while being hunted down by six trained assassins. If they can survive, they win a billion dollars. It may have seemed completely far fetched in 1982  yet in the real 2025 there is actually a programme in which people are hunted across the country. Admittedly they are not summarily executed upon being found but the idea is there. Meanwhile the fact that film or photo footage can be manipulated to devious ends is not alien to us at all. So The Running Man feels not so much of a sci-fi tale but a story of now.

You might run into spoilers after the break

Edgar Wright’s film is reportedly much more faithful to the novel, which I've not read,  than the neon filled Eighties version starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. In a gesture towards that version, Arnie's image is amusingly featured on dollar bills. The film does retain some of the icons of Eighties rebellion though notably the presence of amateurish, printed, inky paper fanzines! Whoever thought we’d see them in a modern movie; it makes me so nostalgic. Also, whilst on the run, our hero has to post daily updates on what looks like chunky video cassettes that he physically places in a mailbox. The top section of the mailbox does take flight like a drone but the mix and match between past, present and contemporary means we’re in a familiar place.

Glen Powell plays Ben Richards later called the angriest man on tv, whose participation in the Running Man show is the only option to enable him to afford medicine for his sick daughter as he’s been barred from most jobs due to his “insubordination”. The narrative starts with deception right here- we later discover that this so `disruptive` behaviour was simply him standing up for fellow workmates being badly treated. Its our entry into a world where people are conned, manipulated and almost anaesthetised by entertainment and the grind of manual work. The parallels with some contemporary scenarios make it even more uncomfortable though the film doesn't always push this as much as it might.

As Ben embarks on his thirty-day attempt to survive we see how the coverage the viewer sees is subtly altered and scenarios changed to best suit the peak viewing times. We know that what is basically AI is already possible and so this is very effective.  These scenes are the best in the film and may bring out some righteous anger (or at least gasps) from the audience.  Powell’s character though is only sketched relying on the actor’s charisma to carry it through. He’s had better roles but whenever Ben is filled with anger this really comes across on the screen. Its hard to like the character whatever he goes through because we don’t really get to know him yet the sheer jeopardy, he is constantly in means we’re rooting for him.  In that sense he’s channelling Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible.

There is some excellent work from Emelia Jones  as Amelia, a civilian who ends up being accidentally kidnapped by Ben and proves somewhat supportive in the end. The character is played with a directness that makes her scenes work really well. There’s a lively spark between Amelia and Ben that makes you wish she’d entered the story sooner and the grim mood is allowed a little light for a while even if they are being chased down.

Michael Cera, Wright’s erstwhile Scott Pilgrim, is here playing against type as the fervent rebel Elton who amusingly has an old house armed to the hilt with hidden incendiaries. Cera is terrific in his shortish time on screen, a spin off character if ever I saw one (though it would need to be a prequel). Also to be enjoyed are Colman Domingo as the flamboyant Bobby T, host of the Running Man show who commentates and speculates with showbiz elan whatever horrors are happening and Josh Brolin flashing a pearly white smile as the manipulatively charming network head Dan Killian

As he always does Edgar Wright stages some cracking, tense sequences, notably when a house in which Ben is sheltering is invaded by soldiers and a confined struggle in an airplane later on. Replacing the gleamingly colourful shiny sci-fi fit of Arnie’s version with more authentic locations we find Ben hiding in the dingy, squalid parts of town, mixing with rats and conmen. As it becomes clear that the rules of the show are being bent to ensure the desired outcome whatever the cost it becomes relentlessly thrilling. The story keeps finding interesting corners to back Ben into. Inevitably there are moments when you think –“`that could never happen` - but by quickly moving on the momentum of the movie just remains diverting.

Suitably the morality of the film becomes murkier the further we progress and there are developments- especially when during one narrow escape Ben blows up an entire building killing some innocent people – that sit uneasily with the idea of him being a hero and thousands of viewers cheering him on. As real live tv edges closer to extremes you wonder what the threshold is where people would say `this is enough`. The film is not specifically interested in that though characters do question the veracity of the what’s on screen and are later proved to be right.

The style of the film and the type of storyline means you expect some sort of jaw dropping twist at the end – my money was that the whole thing turns out to have been faked and that nobody was really killed at all making it the ultimate deceptive entertainment – but it doesn’t really come. Nonetheless the wave of rebellion Ben’s odyssey incites does provide a stirring conclusion to a lively and often absorbing film.