Film Review: THE RUNNING MAN (2025): Edgar Wright’s Action Picture Loses a Bit of Momentum Due to a Lengthy Running Time
The Running Man Review
The Running Man (2025) Film Review, a movie directed by Edgar Wright, written by Michael Bacall, Stephen King and Edgar Wright and starring Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, Lee Pace, Sean Hayes, Chris Rogers, Katy O’Brian, Emilia Jones, David Zayas, Greg Townley, Karl Glusman, Joey Ansah, Jayme Lawson, Tom Crowhurst, Robert Eades, Michael Cera, Debi Mazar and William H. Macy.
The Running Man is filmmaker Edgar Wright’s $110 million-budgeted reworking of the old 1980’s Arnold Schwarzenegger film of the same title which was based on a creative Stephen King story. This new picture employs Glen Powell (Anyone but You) in the title role. One thing’s for certain: Powell has the potential to be a phenomenal leading man time and time again if given the right script, but his new picture is undermined by its two-hour plus running time. This is a story that could have been told in a length about thirty less minutes than the film employs, but the picture has some action scenes that could knock viewers’ socks off thanks to their sheer intensity.
In the future, a game show called The Running Man offers viewers an accessible way to make quick cash in emergencies. One problem, though, is staying alive through the obstacles the show presents to its contestants. There are three types of contestants, according to the film. There are the quick kills who come in and die in just a day or two, the ones who seize their glory and die at the pinnacle of their lives and those who boost ratings and last at least a couple of weeks on the program. Powell’s character, Ben Richards, fits into the third category.
As the film opens, Ben is trying to urge his old boss to re-hire him and stop blackballing him on the job market. He has his sick young daughter intact and needs reassurance that he will get some slack from the boss. Ben is given little sympathy, however, as his wife takes on extra shifts at her job to pay the bills. With nowhere left to turn, and through a series of unfortunate events, Ben joins The Running Man where he quickly proves he’s capable of rolling as one of the top players.
Ben sends videos of his successes in mailboxes where the videos simply fly away to their destinations in a very creative bit. Ben meets a kid who helps him along the way, but he’s still in it on his own, ultimately, as he must use his wits to stay alive. A great action sequence has him going down a tunnel and underwater following some rats who light up on fire in one of the most ultra enjoyable parts of the picture.
This film has a terrific supporting cast. William H. Macy serves as Molie who reluctantly helps our hero yet gets himself in serious trouble for doing so. Emilia Jones (CODA) appears later in the picture as a woman named Amelia Williams who has an expensive scarf and reluctantly picks Ben up in her car and comes to his aide after some initial bickering between them. Lee Pace also plays in the film in the role of Evan McCone who gives Ben a run for his money on the show near the film’s conclusion.
It is the host of the game show and the head of the network who occasionally steal the movie. Josh Brolin plays the network leader, Dan Killian (he’s appropriately named), and Colman Domingo flat out runs away with his scenes as the host of The Running Man, Bobby T. Talk about chewing scenery, Brolin and Domingo, especially, sink their teeth into their villainous roles here with Domingo actually delivering some of his most energetic work to date. Domingo’s character ultimately has a change of heart late in the picture that could make audiences cheer.
Glen Powell is a reliable leading performer and he’s amazing in the way he keeps the momentum of the film pumping, but even he can’t save the movie from getting bombarded with inane action scenes that keep arriving and are bigger than the previous ones but lack common sense. Characters state that Ben will die at one point and should give up, but then plot twists arrive which keep him running around and succeeding at staying alive as the ratings for the program are boosted. Will the show keep him alive, or will he trot his own course in the end and save his family?
Emilia Jones is solid even if her scenes will test viewers’ patience as her character flips from taking sides with Ben and, also, going against him. Still, this movie has enough bang for the dollar. That’s because director Wright knows what he’s doing in terms of getting the movie from point A to point B. However, the problem is that the film grows tedious as Ben soon starts to seem invincible and the threats posed against him never feel truly plausible.
That being said, The Running Man could be a crowd-pleaser for die-hard Powell fans. One could argue that it’s a one-man show peppered with seasoned supporting actors who are, for the most part, in the background. It’s clear this is Powell’s movie from opening to close no matter how many moments Brolin and Domingo may take from him. The Running Man is worth it if you haven’t seen the original, but, at the end of the day, it’s simply another attempt by Hollywood to improve upon perfection.
Rating: 6.5/10
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