There’s something poetic about The Running Man returning in 2025, the exact year Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman) originally set his dystopian nightmare. With Edgar Wright at the helm and Glen Powell bringing his signature “Glenergy” to the lead role, this isn’t just a reimagining of a cult classic; it’s a full-throttle evolution of the idea that entertainment can eat us alive.
A Retro-Future That Feels All Too Real
Wright’s version of The Running Man stays closer to King’s 1982 novel, quite a bit more than Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 did. Gone are the gold jumpsuits and tongue-in-cheek camp; in their place, Wright builds a grim, neon-slick world where society has been ripped apart, where the super-rich and poor wealth gap is large, and the general population is used as fuel and entertainment for the rich and wealthy. In this current political climate, there are times when this does feel a little too real to be comfortable. Contestants must survive thirty days on the run while being hunted for sport, and each night, the entire world tunes in to watch.
The film’s world-building is stunning. It’s Blade Runner with an infusion of the video game Cyberpunk 2077, all cathode-ray TVs, clunky VCRs, and the cold glow of analog screens. Wright and co-writer Michael Bacall (coming back from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) craft a world that feels eerily familiar, weaponising nostalgia against the audience. As one character quips, “These TVs don’t watch you back,” a chilling jab at today’s surveillance-heavy “smart” tech society.
Glenergy in Full Flight
But what makes this version truly run is Glen Powell. As Ben Richards, he’s a man forced into the most sadistic game show ever made; he is only here to get money to lift his family out of poverty. It is society that wants him to be a symbol of something more. Powell sheds the shallow fun of Anyone But You and the supporting man cockiness of Top Gun: Maverick to reveal something sharper, angrier, and deeply human.
Powell’s “Glenergy” oozes that effortlessly charismatic, action movie-star quality from the 90’s, similar to the original films star Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it radiates through every scene. Whether he’s sprinting through darkened alleys or facing down a camera crew mid-chase, he goes big and it pays off in spades. There’s a moment, late in the film, when he confronts a manipulative producer and growls, “I’m still here, sh$t eaters.” It’s pure leading-man gold. His anger at society combines with his being cocky, electric, and perfectly self-aware.
Edgar Wright Goes Big
For Wright, The Running Man marks his most ambitious film yet. He trades the pop-punk energy of Scott Pilgrim and the razor-edged editing of Hot Fuzz for something more expansive and political. This is still technically Wright, the satire of media culture, the rhythmic editing, the needle-drop soundtrack, but there’s also a sense that he’s making a statement about the influencer economy and billionaire-led society we are inching towards.
The film skewers American celebrity obsession and capitalist exploitation, landing somewhere between RoboCop and Starship Troopers in tone. Its fake commercials and influencer parodies (“The Americanos,” a Kardashian-esque reality show that sees Debbie Mazar eating up every scene) are brutally funny yet disturbingly believable. Wright knows the absurdity of a world that turns violence into prime-time entertainment, and he holds up a mirror without blinking. It is scary to think that, in the current political climate (particularly in the USA), this whole societal setup could easily become reality at any moment.
Supporting Cast & Craft
William H. Macy brings grounded pathos as Molie, a rebel engineer helping Richards navigate the underground. He doesn’t get a lot of time on screen, but when he does, he has a great impact. His line about the safety of old TVs doubles as both a nostalgic wink and a warning in the world of AI. Colman Domingo shines as Bobby Thompson, the host of The Running Man TV show. He eats up every scene he is in, providing a fun, playful character who refuses to comply with the network’s requests and only looks out for number one. Michael Cera plays Bradley, an outlaw who has one of the most entertaining sequences in the film in a Home Alone-style house of traps that acts as one of the more entertaining action sequences.
Technically, The Running Man is a triumph. The action is cleanly staged and kinetic, with Wright’s signature sense of rhythm intact; chase scenes move like a well-rehearsed band, while Glen Powell dangles from a massive Y sign wearing nothing but a towel. It’s pure paradise. The use of practical effects and grimy production design gives the film a tactile, lived-in quality missing from so many recent CGI-laden blockbusters.
Verdict
Edgar Wright’s The Running Man is a bombastic and unapologetic adaptation that brings King’s vision screaming into the now. While it’s not as overtly comedic as his earlier films, it’s every bit as sharp and his most mature film to date. Glen Powell finally gets the leading-man action-hero flick he deserves, cementing his status as one whose charisma could light up even the darkest dystopian alleyway.
The Running Man proves that in a world obsessed with watching others survive, few can run like Powell can.
