Director: Edgar Wright
Actors: Glen Powell, Jayme Lawson, Michael Cera, Colman Domingo
Genre: Sci-Fi / Action
Rating: MA
‘The Running Man’ is a remake of the Arnie film from 1987. Is
it needed? Probably not. Is it better than that film? Yes. The premise is the
same – and still silly – with a ‘Purge’-like survival reality show where the
runner can win money while being hunted by everyone. This time, it’s Ben
Richards (Powell) trying to win the prize money for his wife Shiela (Lawson)
and sick daughter Cathy (Benn). He’s up against ‘The Network’ and the producer
of the show, Killian (Brolin) – subtle name – and Bobby T (Domingo), as well as
the hunters, led by McCone (Pace). Ben gets his 12 hour head start, then has to
try to survive for 4 weeks.
Powell is cementing himself as the new Brad Pitt/Tom Cruise
of the 2020s, and is quite likeable here. He gets help from Molie (H Macy),
Elton (Cera) & Bradley (Ezra), showing there’s still some humanity in this ‘1984’
type future. The score and soundtrack are just OK, and there’s some funny
moments, but no real laughs – both a bit odd, since this is directed by Wright.
Brolin, Domingo & Pace seem to relish their bad guy/dick characters
It’s another Stephen King adaption from this year (after ‘The
Life of Chuck’ and ‘The Long Walk’), and while not spooky, definitely has dark
and dystopian undertones. But in general, it’s a pretty straight-forward action
film, with plenty of explosions and violence, but nothing too graphic. There’s
some down time between all the escaping, and the ending is OK, if not perfect.
Probably 20min too long, at 2 hours 10min.
Overall: Solid futuristic action
Gav’s Rating: 3 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment