Review by C.J. Bunce
The original The Running Man movie based on the Stephen King story helped propel Arnold Schwarzenegger forward in another step toward his singular, unprecedented, blockbuster movie star status–a science fiction cult classic that decades later The Hunger Games would borrow from for a trilogy of young adult movies. This year director Edgar Wright, who created the definitive pop horror flick with Shaun of the Dead and dazzled us with Baby Driver and Last Night in Soho, brought a new version of The Running Man from the theaters to the small screen–it’s now streaming on Paramount+ back-to-back with the original. It stars Glen Powell, a supporting player in Top Gun: Maverick, Hidden Figures, and The Expendables 3, an unusual choice considering he’s not a household name. Also the star of the reboot of Twister (Twisters), maybe it makes sense Paramount Pictures didn’t look to an established star for a quirky sci-fi tale like this. But look for major actors in the supporting roles here, including Josh Brolin, Lee Pace, and William H. Macy. No remake of any movie starring Arnold will likely ever compare, simply because Arnold is such a mega star with incredible charisma, whether you’re looking at remakes of Total Recall or this movie, or sequels to his Terminator and Predator movies. But if you’re up for a familiar but different vibe, you may have fun with Wright’s new take.
Glen Powell steps into Arnold’s shoes as the new Ben Richards, our primary Running Man. He’s instantly a sympathetic guy, only auditioning for the game show to earn cash for medicine for his sick baby girl, her mother (played by Alyssa Benn) left to earn money at a night club without letting the guys get handsy as long as she can.
According to Richards half of America supports this new society and the other half doesn’t. Put aside the future noir sci-fi of days gone by–it’s easy to understand how the world arrives at this dark place. No protests are allowed. Government agents force compliance and strike down Ben Richards for literally getting out of a line to help a sick old man. This movie looks like it belongs to the current dark timeline–maybe a few years out but not much further. Wright abandons the sillier games of the original for the oddities of current America–reality shows that pit people against each other in often dangerous ways and reality show hosts that are worshipped like gods. And citizenry ready to target people they don’t know just because the network agents of the government say they can.
It’s hard to beat Hogan’s Heroes and Match Game star and original Family Feud host Richard Dawson as the one man host of the original movie. Dawson combined his acting skill with his P.T. Barnum-like ringmaster persona from the game shows to create a memorable villain. That role is split this time between Josh Brolin as Dan Killian, the evil man behind the curtain, and Colman Domingo as the front man, both colluding to concoct a reality show featuring men and women as contestants who must survive on the streets of Boston for thirty days, all while the whole world can win millions of dollars for reporting their location and trained Hunters track them to kill them. All for glorious entertainment purposes.
This Richards is smart and uses people from his past to help shield him at first, gaining a few days on his scorecard with only a few altercations. One of those helpers is played by William H. Macy in a brief scene. But soon others come out of the woodwork to aid this strangers, ignoring the hype of the games. Best of these is Michael Cera as Elton Perrakis, a guy who lives with his mom and in secret he has invented technology to keep Hunters at bay should they ever cross his path. Daniel Ezra plays another man from the streets eager to connect Richards with Perrakis to aid his efforts to survive and maybe even bring down Killian & Co.
Surprisingly this isn’t a movie of cutting edge visual effects. The best set piece involves a futuristic aircraft and a showdown between Ben and the chief Hunter, played by The Hobbit (and Wonderfalls!) star Lee Pace. Pace has the size and track record of playing larger than life characters and even while masked sells his character Evan McCone. Yes, the bads guys in this future wear masks. The violence and kill count climbs like nothing you’ve probably scene since Arnold starred in 1980s action movies. But the best use of technology couldn’t be simpler for the show’s creators: Today we know about deep fakes–where anyone can use artificial intelligence to create a fairly realistic video of someone doing and saying things they never actually said–and make it in only a matter of minutes. This of course didn’t exist in the 1980s for the original movie. Brolin’s villain Killian uses this technology when he doesn’t like the actual things his TV “star” Ben Richards is saying. But they didn’t need to even create a deep fake for this bit to be effective, since Powell could just film the scenes as both good guy and bad guy. It’s a nice, effective, cheap little trick. It’s Wright’s use of concepts like that that make this action movie work, and something worth watching, even if it doesn’t conjure the same spectacle as the original.
Other “running men” are part of the game, including The Mandalorian and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s Katy O’Brian. Emilia Jones (Task) has a brief role as a kidnapped woman who at first doesn’t believe Ben is a good guy. But, unfortunately, ultimately, this movie is all about throwing around the testosterone.
It’s easy sci-fi to enjoy if you can put aside how close to reality it all could be. Edgar Wright worked a nice update of the original. Watch The Running Man, now streaming on Paramount+, and you can view it back-to-back with the original, also streaming on the platform.
