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Review: ‘The Running Man’ is a Reinvigorated Remake that Breathes New Life into a Stephen King Classic
November 11, 2025Ben MK
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Out of all of Arnold Schwarzenegger's impressive filmography, 1987's The Running Man remains one of the 78-year-old action star's most middling movies. Neither cheesy enough to achieve the so-bad-it's-good status of Hercules in New York nor as iconic as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, director Paul Michael Glaser's adaptation of Stephen King's 1982 novel is one of those films that's strictly for die-hard Schwarzenegger fans and cult-classic enthusiasts. Fast forward nearly forty years, however, and director Edgar Wright is aiming to rectify all of that, with a brand-new take on King's sci-fi classic that promises to be not only more action-packed, but also more faithful to its source material. But does this decades-later remake have what it takes to best its predecessor at its own game? The time and place is America in the near-future, and Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is a man out of options. Married to wife Sheila (Jayme Lawson) and with a sick infant daughter to care for, Ben has been fired from every job he's had recently, on account of his knack for standing up for his fellow workers and calling out the unethical policies of upper management. So, when he and Sheila are unable to afford the medicine their young daughter desperately needs, Ben decides to take matters into his own hands, by trying out for one of the reality game shows that's all the rage on Free-Vee, a sinister television network that routinely spews out government propaganda disguised as entertainment. After surviving the rigorous physical auditions, Ben, along with his fellow contestants, Jenni (Katy O'Brian) and Tim (Martin Herlihy), is soon informed that he's qualified for the network's most high-risk, high-reward program, The Running Man. But is the show's mastermind, network executive Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), lying through his teeth, especially when he tries to convince Ben that he genuinely has the potential to become the first contestant in network history to actually win The Running Man's top prize? Thrust into a 30-day game of survival, in which he'll have his name and face plastered across every form of nationwide media, Ben must avoid being identified and turned in by average citizens, while also being hunted like an animal by a group of the network's hunters — a sadistic band of mercenaries led by the mask-wearing Evan McCone (Lee Pace). If he can manage to stay alive and under the radar for the entire duration of the game, however, Ben stands to win a billion dollars, which would be more than enough to pay for his daughter's medication and to move his family out of the slums of Co-op City, where the future is bleak for all those unfortunate enough to call it home. It's tantalizing motivation that Ben can't resist, even as he watches his fellow Running Man hopefuls being ruthlessly cut down in the streets by McCone and his team. But with a little help from his old friend, explosives expert Molie (William H. Macy), the street-smart Apostle (Daniel Ezra), and a zine-making anarchist named Elton (Michael Cera), Ben might just have all that he needs to outrun, outwit and outgun McCone and his cronies, not to mention give Killian a taste of his own bitter brand of medicine. Written by Wright and his Scott Pilgrim vs. the World co-writer, Michael Bacall, the result is a remake that's very much in line with Len Wiseman's 2012 remake of another Schwarzenegger classic, Total Recall. Yet, while The Running Man certainly brings modern blockbuster sensibilities to King's narrative, backing up the story's disturbingly prescient themes of an authoritarian government and the everyday citizens struggling to break free from under the heel of oppression with a plethora of slick visual effects and thrilling action set-pieces, there's also something to be said for Powell's latest turn as leading man. After leading roles in Anyone But You, Hit Man and Twisters, Powell finally has the opportunity here to showcase the full range of his acting abilities. And although the entire cast is uniformly fantastic, it's really he who stands out the most, filling Schwarzenegger's shoes with ease and giving the former Governator a true run for his money. It all adds up to a remake that outshines its predecessor in more ways than one. Still, for the purists that can only associate The Running Man with the tight spandex costumes and American Gladiator-esque nature of the 1980s original, it might be hard to imagine anything else taking its place. Either way, Wright succeeds in spades, turning what was once campy, over-the-top action schlock into a serious contender for the year's most crowd-pleasing dystopian sci-fi thriller. After all, as Tom Cruise said in Minority Report, everybody runs. However, not everybody can look as good — or have as much fun doing it — as Glen Powell. The Running Man releases November 14th, 2025 from Paramount Pictures. The film has an MPAA rating of R for strong violence, some gore, and language. Its runtime is 2 hrs. 13 min. |
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