If you thought of Stephen King/Richard Bachman novels or stories to remake in the present day, The Running Man might not be in the top 5. However, when you think about it a bit more, the story does have some contemporary things to compare to. There’s plight among the working class, there’s a media-driven, vanity-focused culture, and of course, people are willing to do very stupid and dangerous things in the name of fame and money. That was the same when they made the original The Running Man back in 1987, and it’s the same now in 2025 with Edgar Wright taking a crack at the story.

This time around, it’s focused on Ben Richards (played by Glen Powell). He’s a father that is down on his luck because in this new version of society (that it seems like we’re getting close to), people don’t think helping one another is a good thing. If you help someone out at work, like Ben has done plenty of times, you get reprimanded and then eventually terminated from your position. Ben has a sick daughter to take care of and the only salvation is trying to get on one of the Network’s many game shows that pay out paltry sums of money. Through a try-out, he ends up on The Running Man, the most popular and barbaric show there is. The goal is simple: survive for 30 days while people and Hunters try to kill you, all the while, your family gets money for how well you perform.

As it goes along, Ben is helped out by people who want to take down the Network, or those that have been affected by the power it holds. Edgar Wright directs and co-wrote alongside Michael Bacall. It also stars Josh Brolin, Lee Pace, Katy O’Brian, Colman Domingo, William H. Macy, Michael Cera, Jayme Lawson, and Emilia Jones.

But let’s dive into what really makes the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of The Running Man.

The Good Of The Running Man

The movie has some absolutely smashing set pieces when its firing on all cylinders. Between Ben hanging off a tenement building in a towel while Hunters chase him around or an excellent sequence with Elton (Michael Cera) and Ben as, you guessed it, when Hunters are chasing them. That sequence with Cera feels the most Edgar Wright out of anything else in the film. It’s cartoonish, it’s a lighter section that brings the energy up at around the halfway point of the movie. The performances here are also great, including Glen Powell. This movie would not be nearly as good without him. He’s full of vigor, energy, and like every other role he’s in, just absolutely oozing with charisma.

Josh Brolin as Killian, the evil Network exec, and Colman Domingo as Bobby T., the host of The Running Man, are both excellent in their own ways. Brolin is conniving, skeevy, and plays the guy that we all know in our lives who can smooth-talk his way through anything. Domingo channels his best game show host with a twinge of modern aesthetics and sensibilities. Those mesh well with the commentary on display in the film about our own media and how we engage with things. For an action movie that feels like its light and harmless on the surface, The Running Man really has some deep thoughts on our society as a whole. We’re not that far off from this society in the movie and it knows it.

That’s really where The Running Man succeeds, when it’s trying to point a mirror at the audience and shows off our own ugly tendencies.

The Bad And Ugly Of The Running Man

The Running Man suffers in a couple of spots. First off, this doesn’t really feel like an Edgar Wright film for a good portion of it. There’s not a whole lot of his trademarks except in that one sequence with Michael Cera. It’s also just a REALLY heavy and dark film for a good portion of it. There are light moments, but they’re few and far between. The film also takes quite a long time to get to the chase and while it follows the book much better than the other film, the 30 days of gametime is a slog.

Lee Pace’s character of McCone is a bit underutilized; he’s under a mask for most of the film, and his development as a character through the third act is somewhat stunted. The rest of the Hunters are also just nameless, mostly faceless guys that are there for Richards to tear through. There is one, played by Karl Glusman, who feels like he should have had a bigger role.

Overall, it just feels like The Running Man has some big ideas, some nice concepts and commentary, but those concepts don’t carry the film along through its 2 hours and 13 minute runtime.

Glen Powell Is Still Worth Watching Though

Overall, The Running Man is still entertaining and has another superstar performance from Glen Powell. For Edgar Wright fans, they might be a bit disappointed that it lacks some of his more signature style. It’s a serviceable action film that feels like it could have been much more.

The Running Man releases in theaters on November 14th, 2025.

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