In his 1982 novel “The Running Man,” author Stephen King, under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, envisioned the year 2025 as a dystopian time full of government corruptions, economic inequality, rights infringement, and a society pacified by the mindless cruelty shown daily on their television screens. While the portrait of our current times is not as grim as King painted, we are not that far off.
The medium of television may not be the influential force it once was, as the numbing glow of cell phone screens temporarily sooths our pain, but technology still plays a prevalent role in society. It is the way that those in power use technology to place a lid over the boiling pot of disenfranchised rage that is the focus of Edgar Wright’s The Running Man.
Presenting a far more faithful adaptation of King’s novel than the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger version, Wright’s action thriller is set in a totalitarian system governed by a corporate media network. It is a world where poverty is high and basic humanity sacrificed for profit. A place where men like Ben Richards (Glen Powell) are perpetually down on their luck.
A do-gooder of sorts, Richards is the type of guy who will risk his life to save a colleague. Unfortunately, his knack for verbalizing malpractice at the workplace has led to a series of firings for insubordination. Running out of options, and with a sick child at home in need of medicine, Richards convinces his wife Shelia (Jayme Lawson) that he can earn the money they need by auditioning for one of the network’s game shows.
Believing he can land a spot on one of the safer programs, Richards’ uncontrollable anger makes him the perfect candidate for the highest rated program, The Running Man. Hosted by the charismatic Bobby T (Colmon Domingo), the premise of the show is that contestants must survive 30-days out in the world, while being chased by a team of hunters, led by Chief McCone (Lee Pace), and average citizens looking to cash in by killing him. While the show’s producer Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) thinks Richards has what it takes to be the show’s first winner, the odds are stacked against him. A fact that quickly becomes clear when the show begins manipulating videos to paint the unemployed man as a villain worthy of death.
As Richards and his fellow runners, Laughlin (Katy O’Brian) and Jansky (Martin Herlihy), try to stay alive, and record their mandatory 10-minute video diaries daily, the film moves from thrilling action set piece to set piece. Playing up the fact that Richards never knows who he can trust, Wright’s film raises the tension as the hunters get closer to their prey.
What makes the fox attempting to outsmart the bloodthirsty hounds chasing him so engaging is the humour that Wright sprinkles throughout. While Richards does get a few moments here and there to break from his angry at the world demeanor, most of the comedic beats come from the side characters he interacts with. A perfect example of this comes in the Home Alone style sequence involving Elton Perrakis (Michael Cera), the son of a fallen police officer who seems more excited to get revenge on his father’s colleagues than getting his rebellion literature to the masses.
It is in these humorous interactions where audiences get a full glimpse of The Running Man’s true potential.
As enjoyable as the film is, The Running Man unravels in the third act when the character of Amelia (Emilia Jones) is introduced. A symbol of the upper mid-class, who takes pride in her sense of superiority, Amelia’s presence is meant to signify the final shift in the public perception of the protagonist. However, Wright’s film struggles to link the connection between Richards’ growing fans, who spray painting “Richard Lives” on the sides of buildings, and those who are actively trying to stage a rebellion.
This disconnect also exposes the thin ice dramatic aspects are built on. For all the time Wright spends setting up the story, the audience feels very little for Richards’ plight on a personal level. The third act further proves this as the film cannot decide the overall tone it wants to strive for. Never going as dark as it needed to, the drama feels stunted as the story makes various leaps in logic in a feeble attempt to tie everything off in a nice bow.
Wright’s film may not have folks running to the cinema like their lives depend on it, but The Running Man still offers enough entertainment to satisfy.
