"The resulting film is never anything but likable and fun though never actually disturbing in the way that it's surely supposed to be and the ending is fudged and anticlimactic. Yet there's plenty of enjoyment to be had. Wright accelerates to a sprint for some full-tilt chase sequences; there's a nice punk aesthetic with protest 'zines being produced by underground rebels; and Wright always delivers those sugar-rush pop slams on the soundtrack, including, of course, the Spencer Davis Group's Keep on Running."
"Powell plays Ben, an honest, hardworking guy in a dystopian US run by a faceless corporation in the traditional manner. He can't get work after being blacklisted for calling out unsafe practices but desperately needs cash to buy medicine for his sick daughter. His wife Sheila (Jayme Lawson) is moreover exploited at the club where she works as a waitress-slash-hostess, although King's original novel is clearer about the distasteful things she needs to do to earn money."
Edgar Wright adapts Stephen King's 1982 Richard Bachman novel The Running Man and sets it in a 2025 dystopia starring Glen Powell. Ben is a blacklisted worker who joins a deadly reality TV show to win money for his sick daughter while his wife endures exploitation. The film leans into full-tilt chase sequences, a punk visual aesthetic with protest 'zines, and high-energy soundtrack choices. Performances include Colman Domingo as a wacky studio presenter and Josh Brolin as a hard-faced producer. The tone is likable and enjoyable but never fully chilling, and the ending feels fudged and anticlimactic.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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