In the decades since the 1987 release of the Arnold Schwarzenegger action vehicle The Running Man, so much has changed that this new version should be considered as its own entity. Reality TV has now achieved a crazy level of extreme action as well as hand-to-hand combat sports with its televised brutality. In the context of all these changes, how does one look at this 2025 release?
First, it must be said that this take is crackling with the kind of irreverent energy that is director/writer Edgar Wright‘s stock in trade, and this is more a reimagining than a reboot. Lead actor Glen Powell is given the chance to outdo Arnie in almost every way. He delivers a physical performance that veers closely to complete anarchy, and he does so with a sly nod at its core.
The world that Wright and cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung have created, one filtered through the loosely adhered to guidelines set out by Stephen King’s novel, mirrors our current society’s tendency towards sensory overload perfectly. It’s a manic level of energy that never subsides. And as ridiculous and over the top as the presentation of the television show that underlines the story and its audience members is, there are parallels with much of current reality TV programming.
Sustaining this level of insanity asks as much from the audience as it does from the cast. This is a difficult film to be neutral about. The question of where this trend towards increased televised absurdity goes next is ever-present. Your ability to process that kind of visual and audio overload will inform your enjoyment of the proceedings. This reviewer enjoyed the heightened level of madness.
Rob Hudson
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