Being a fan of British film director Edgar Wright, I was hyped to see what he could do with Glen Powell as his action star in The Running Man. Powell plays Ben Richards, a man who chooses to enter a deadly dystopian American gameshow after desperately needing money to care for his sick child. Richards must now run for his life as he must survive from skilled hunters, bloodthirsty citizens, and a ruthless TV producer.
The Running Man was originally a novel written by Stephen King under the pen name Richard Bachman. The dystopian thriller was released in 1982 and later adapted into a 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The 1987 film had a troubled production with a last minute change of director and a major changes from King’s original book. Even Schwarzenegger admitted to Wright that the film was one he wished could be remade better.
In 2021, Wright – having directed cult classic films like Baby Driver, Last Night in Soho, Hot Fuzz, and Shaun of the Dead – was attached to directing the remake. Wright set out to make his version of The Running Man a more direct adaptation of King’s novel. He even submitted the script of the film to the famous author himself for notes. “It was like sending your homework to the world’s most famous English teacher,” Wright said in an interview. King approved Wright and co-writer Michael Bacall’s script, and he even oversaw the casting of Powell as Richards.
With a film more closer to King’s original novel, Powell’s first leading action role, and Wright’s sharp direction, is The Running Man worth the watch? Read on to find out!
Director: Edgar Wright
Cast: Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, Michael Cera, and Lee Pace
Release Date: 13 November 2025
After showing his acting chops in Hitman and Anyone But You, Powell locked in and understood the assignment. Being an action star that can show emotional range is not easy. Luckily, Powell’s charm and loveable attitude makes him a great Ben Richards. On paper, Richards isn’t exactly a likeable guy, yet Powell makes you root for him despite his serious anger management issues.
When it comes to the action scenes, Powell handles them with a finesse that comes with years of experience playing alongside action legends. Although most of the action is Richards getting the hell out of dangerous situation, Powell’s physicality played out the gags and thrills well. And if you’re a fan of Powell’s good looks there is certainly some fan-service for you, particularly an action set piece in a towel.
Powell is also playing off other big stars too. Josh Brolin is a standout as Dan Killian, the shows maniacal producer who did a great job at making you want to knock off his fake teeth. Brolin really has a knack for playing good villains as his attempts to manipulate and alter Richard’s life is a constant threat in the film. Colman Domingo is also wonderfully loud and bombastic and Bobby T, the show’s host who twists reality to fuel the angry viewers of the show.
There are also other casting surprises like Michael Cera and William H. Macy among others. Unfortunately, Lee Pace’s masked hunter Ian McCone was a letdown as he wasn’t in the film for long. Out of the many villains in the film, he was the least developed and what is revealed about him isn’t particularly interesting either. (Seriously, we got to make our new masked villain characters better.)
The action of The Running Man is not only exciting but also creative. It’s definitely Wright’s biggest action film yet and thankfully he has not lost his edge from Hot Fuzz. I was watching the film in 4DX, so it really enhanced the chaos of the car chases and fights. However, don’t go in expecting the greatest action set pieces of all time. If you expect the spectacular car chases of Baby Driver, you may be underwhelmed. The action here isn’t the whole point of the film, rather it’s a means to push Richards further into danger and move the story along.
Wright’s world building has always been a strength of his previous films and The Running Man takes it into another scale. The opening credits sequence of Richards walking around a dystopian America shows exactly what you need to know. Wright does a great job of holding a mirror to our real world, yet using satire to exaggerate the right elements needed. I also have to praise the costumes of the film that were not only memorable but fit into a more realistic world.
However, the worldbuilding also led to the films biggest problem which was it’s overbearing message. There are some moments when Richards literally spells out the messages of the film. I know an action film isn’t exactly made to be subtle but the film could’ve done without beating it’s themes over the audiences heads.
Although Powell, Brolin, and Domingo are the best parts of the film, I couldn’t say the same for the other supporting characters. The film doesn’t spend enough time with them to give me a reason to care. Some are kind folk who help Ben along the way and others are trying to kill him. The moment they begin to get interesting, the film moves on from them.
There are many of these kinds of characters Ben meets throughout the film in a road-trip style quest. This is a shame, because Wright’s previous films have many memorable characters, however small their screentime was.
While most of the film is quite a faithful adaptation to King’s novel, the are some departures made towards the film’s climax. Without giving too much away, I did like climax overall. However, because I was only invested in Richard’s story, the payoff for the other characters involved failed to stick the landing. Wright could have made the ending more impactful and personally I felt a bolder choice could have packed a powerful punch.
That being said, this is certainly one of the most entertaining films of the year. I’d definitely recommend to watch it big and loud in cinemas. And in a time where action blockbusters have been losing their spark, The Running Man is lighting the flame they desperately need.
Here’s our review of Glen Powell’s The Running Man
Cast: 9/10
Plot: 7/10
Visuals: 7/10
Score: 8/10
Overall rating: 8/10
All images by Paramount Pictures
Note : The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.