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THE RUNNING MAN (2025)

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You can hardly fault Edgar Wright for taking on The Running Man, now streaming on Paramount+ and available via VOD platforms like Amazon Prime Video. Like many children of the 1980s, Wright likely adored the original 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film in his youth — and later recognized its limitations as an adult. That realization makes the property a logical candidate for a remake, or more accurately, a re-adaptation, given that this version leans closer to Stephen King’s 1982 novel.

On paper, the project looks like a guaranteed win: a highly inventive filmmaker known for Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Deadand Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, a hefty $110 million budget, and one of Hollywood’s most in-demand leading men, Glen Powell, fronting a retro-futuristic dystopian action-comedy. What could possibly go wrong? Unfortunately, quite a bit.

THE RUNNING MAN: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist

Yes, that really is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s face on the $100 bill in this version’s reality — a quick visual gag that suggests his unseen hand played a role in shaping the authoritarian, deeply unequal America in which Ben Richards (Powell) struggles to survive. Society is sharply divided between the impoverished working class and a gleaming, insulated elite, separated both economically and physically.

This story unfolds in a deliberately anachronistic alternate timeline — one without the internet, DVRs or streaming — where television reigns supreme. A massive corporate conglomerate known simply as the Network controls the country, operating a police state while pacifying the population with nonstop reality programming and grotesquely violent game shows that must be watched live.

Presiding over it all is Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), a smug, media-mogul archetype whose crown jewel is The Running Man: a nightly broadcast in which contestants attempt to survive 30 days while being hunted across the country. Viewers are incentivized to turn them in for cash, while the supposed prize for survival is $1 billion — though no one seems to have ever reached it.

Ben Richards is among the desperate underclass. A fundamentally decent man in a system that punishes empathy, he can’t find work and can’t afford medicine for his infant daughter, who is gravely ill. His wife, Sheila (Jayme Lawson), scrapes by waiting tables, enduring humiliations just to bring home a little more money. The injustice fuels Ben’s anger until desperation pushes him to sign up for a game show — only to land in The Running Man itself.

Hosted with bombastic flair by Bobby T (Colman Domingo), the show becomes a spectacle for billions of viewers as Ben is chased by heavily armed Hunters equipped with drones, surveillance tech and overwhelming firepower. The game is rigged, of course, but Ben proves tougher and smarter than expected. Along the way, he crosses paths with allies (Michael Cera, Daniel Ezra, William H. Macy) and adversaries (Lee Pace, Karl Glusman), all while barreling toward an outcome the film telegraphs well in advance.

What It Resembles

Wright’s inspirations are obvious and impeccable — RoboCop, Brazil and Escape from New York loom large. Whether those influences are put to meaningful use is another matter entirely.

Performances Worth Noting

Despite a talented ensemble, few performances are allowed to shine. Powell carries the film competently, maintaining his likable, half-sincere persona, but even he feels constrained. Strong supporting players like Domingo, Brolin and Macy are largely swallowed by the machinery of the plot rather than elevated by it.

Sex and Skin

Nothing more than a brief, cheeky glimpse of Powell’s backside.

The Verdict

It’s surprising that it took Wright this long to tackle an ’80s-style genre film — and more surprising that the result isn’t stronger. The film’s core issue is tone. It never fully commits to emotional engagement nor to stylized, virtuosic spectacle. The script leans heavily on familiar clichés without the sharp self-awareness that made Hot Fuzz so effective as both homage and satire.

Unlike Wright’s earlier work, The Running Man lacks a clear identity. It’s too playful to be emotionally resonant and too earnest to function as a full-blown comedy. Powell, caught in between, oscillates awkwardly between seriousness and goofiness. The action is serviceable but rarely distinctive, falling short of the kinetic highs seen in Baby Driver. And narratively, the film charges ahead with an unearned confidence toward a rushed, cluttered and ultimately unsatisfying conclusion.

Given his first true mega-budget production, Wright delivers a slicker, more stylish version of standard Hollywood fare — but one that lacks the infectious joy, inventive synthesis and sharp edge that define his best films. The retro-futuristic world is visually appealing, imagining a future that looks suspiciously like 1985, and the film is packed with clever visual ideas and aggressive product placement. Still, for all its polish, this Running Man ends up delivering not a triumphant sprint, but a stumble — leaving behind a lingering sense of disappointment rather than exhilaration.

Final call: Skip it.