Reviewed By: Popcornicus
I will admit I never saw the first Running Man movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger nor did I read the Steven King novel it was based off of. As a result, I didn’t have anything to compare this version to, whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I went into it with fresh eyes and a hope that Edgar Wright would direct a good remake.
The story centers around Ben Richards (played by Glen Powell) who reluctantly joins a game show where each contestant has to survive being hunted for 30 days to win a billion “New Dollars.” He decides to compete in order to earn money to buy the medicine needed to help his sick daughter.
Right off the bat I was annoyed with this movie. It opens up with Richards going to his job site to confront his old boss about being fired. He admittedly brings his daughter with him as a deterrent from smashing his boss’s face into the table. Give me a break. For one, Glen Powell is not the type of guy that can pull off this sort of good-guy-with-anger issues sort of personality. It almost felt like they were trying to make him an Adam Sandler character (Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore) but it didn’t work. Also, maybe this is the exact reason he was fired. He never bothered to consider that.
After a discussion with his wife, he decides to go try out for a game show to win money to help pay for his daughters medicine so that his wife doesn’t have to work so much. He more or less promises her he will only audition for one of the less dangerous games and will not audition for The Running Man. However, after about a two minute conversation with the creator of the game show (played by Josh Brolin) he signs on to the Running Man after all. What happened to the other games? Were those no longer an option? The whole set-up just seemed very forced to me when it really didn’t need to. Fortunately, the movie started to get better once the action started.
Once the games begin and he is on the run, the action starts and never really lets up. The movie does a pretty good job of pacing and keeping things moving along, especially considering its run time of 2 hours and 13 minutes. It never really feels like it gets boring, even though the ending left much to be desired.
There were a few things I couldn’t quite figure out, such as why did they have a three person “team” when they each went their own separate ways from the start. Not once did they ever work together to evade capture, and not once do I recall seeing any of the other “teams” in the game. Additionally, it seemed like most of the other contestants were completely clueless as to what this game was, or what the consequences were. They seemed to be there for fun or to party or whatever else. I just think if they realized death was the consequence of losing, none of these other players would have been involved. At one point I think they tried to explain that one of the characters didn’t think it was real until he was already in it which made sense, but what about the other ones? Also, how come some of the flying orbs were only there to film while other orbs had both cameras and machine guns? Seemed very convenient that the machine gun orbs weren’t around all the time.
I agree with Flickman’s review that the highlight of the movie were the scenes with Michael Cera’s character. He added some humor to the situation and when it is revealed he has his entire house booby-trapped Home Alone style, it makes it all the more fun.
Overall I think the biggest issue I had with this movie is that it didn’t quite know what it wanted to be. It has a dark sci-fi thriller premise and they keep it R-rated by having the characters curse a lot, but then they also try to make it light and playful at the same time. I wish they wouldn’t have made it such a Netflix-style colorful action thriller and kept it on the darker side throughout. On the flip side, I did appreciate the parallels to real life with references to AI, masked ICE agents, and big government. Seemed relevant in today’s world despite the story taking place in a future world.
While there is a lot to knock about this movie, it is entertaining nonetheless. If you are just looking for a fun sc-fi action movie, this will satisfy your desire. However, don’t expect anything that will demand a rewatch or stay with you longer than while you watch it. It does have a good cast – special shoutouts to David Zayas and William H. Macy who have small roles but it’s always good to see them on screen.
Overall Verdict: This one borders on an approval score but it just falls a little flat. I would recommend it if you’re looking for a fun action movie but not if you are looking something with a little more depth.
Releasing: February 27, 2026
Releasing: March 6, 2026
Releasing: March 6, 2026