Satire That Knows the Target but Pulls the Punch

Read Time:5 Minute, 21 Second

MOVIE REVIEWS
The Running Man – 4K UHD Steelbook, 4K UHD, and DVD
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Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Year Released: 2025, 2026
Runtime: 2h 13m
Director(s): Edgar Wright
Writer(s): Stephen King, Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright
Cast: Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, Jayme Lawson, Sean Hayes, Katy O’Brian
Where to Watch: available on 4K UHD Steelbook, 4K UHD, and DVD March 3, 2026. Pre-order your copy here: www.amazon.com

RAVING REVIEW: THE RUNNING MAN arrives with pre-set expectations baked into its DNA. It’s a remake, a Stephen King adaptation, and an Edgar Wright project, three things that almost demand radical reinvention and/or unapologetic excess. Instead, what this version delivers is something more cautious and more conflicted. It wants to modernize the premise, focus on the class commentary, and smooth out the pulp-cult vibes. Yet, it never fully commits to being as vicious, unhinged, or confrontational as its concept allows. The result is an entertaining, often thoughtful, but ultimately restrained dystopian thriller that feels like it’s holding something back.

This shifts the focus from satiric brutality to systemic cruelty. The game show at the center of the story isn’t just violent entertainment; it’s a media apparatus engineered to exploit desperation, manufacture ‘heroes,’ and monetize suffering. That angle works especially well in a cultural moment defined by algorithmic outrage, reality competition, and performative empathy. The film understands what it wants to say about audiences who watch violence from a safe distance and mistake participation for morality.

Glen Powell proves to be the film’s greatest strength. His portrayal of Ben Richards is grounded, reactive, and physically capable without drifting into invincibility. Powell sells exhaustion better than bravado, and that choice keeps the character tethered to reality even when the narrative escalates. He plays Richards as a man learning the rules of a rigged system in real time, adjusting rather than dominating. It’s a performance built on credibility rather than mythmaking, and it gives the film traction even when the idea thins a little.

Josh Brolin’s producer antagonist is slick, cruel, and disturbingly plausible. He isn’t a grandstanding villain so much as a corporate functionary who understands how to weaponize charm and optics. Colman Domingo, meanwhile, injects the film with the kind of energy it occasionally lacks elsewhere. He brings personality, rhythm, and a sense of danger to his scenes, reminding you how much this story depends on performers willing to push beyond the script’s guardrails. (especially in his role in the third act!)

At over two hours, THE RUNNING MAN has space to explore its world, but it doesn’t always know how to use it. The first act sets the stakes efficiently; the second introduces ideas about surveillance, control, and audience complicity, but the final stretch starts to feel diluted as the story unfolds, and tension dissipates rather than narrows. This is especially noticeable given Edgar Wright’s reputation. His best work thrives on momentum, escalation, and precision. Here, that identity feels moderated. The humor is present but muted. The visual flair exists, but it’s controlled, almost too polished. That restraint isn’t inherently bad, but it clashes with a story that begs for sharper edges. When the film hints at going darker or stranger, it often pulls back just as quickly.

The world-building also feels more decorative than immersive. The retro-futuristic aesthetic is appealing, and the in-world media elements are clever, but the society itself never quite feels lived in. We understand the rules, the stakes, and the spectacle, yet the broader social consequences remain abstract. For a story about a nation addicted to watching people suffer, the film could afford to linger more on the emotional fallout beyond the arena. While the logistical challenges could have been insurmountable, I watched the film with the idea that it took place within the BLADE RUNNER universe (which obviously it doesn’t), but still, it made everything just that much deeper for me. I mean, they both take place originally in 2019, so why not!

That said, THE RUNNING MAN is never a failure. It’s competent, engaging, and frequently sharp in all the right ways. It respects the source material’s themes more than other dystopian adaptations and updates them without resorting to nostalgia bait. It trusts its lead actor, assembles a strong supporting cast, and avoids the worst instincts of modern remakes. Its biggest flaw is that it feels like a film designed not to offend its own premise.

This version of THE RUNNING MAN plays like a well-constructed warning delivered at a safe volume. It wants you to think about who profits from spectacle and who pays the price, but it stops short of making that realization uncomfortable. As a result, it’s a solid, thoughtful entry that never quite earns the brutality or urgency its story demands. You’ll remember individual performances and ideas more than the experience as a whole. A respectable update. A missed opportunity for something more. A game that runs well, but never sprints.

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[photo courtesy of ALLIANCE HOME ENTERTAINMENT, PARAMOUNT PICTURES]

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