"It's hard to really pin down the tone of The Running Man. Directed by the stylish, often funny, and occasionally terrifying Edgar Wright, the new film takes what could be accused of being a feature-length Black Mirror premise, and turns it into a satisfying, heartwarming movie that is also one of the bleakest dystopic thrillers in ages. How can The Running Man both capture the camp of the 1987 adaptation and also be its own thing?"
"It's unclear how Wright pulls off this magic trick, but leading man Glen Powell, doing his best I'm-not-Ryan-Gosling impression, certainly helps. In the early 2000s, a remake of a sci-fi horror/novel like this would have starred Tom Cruise or Colin Farrell ( Minority Report, the second Total Recall), and we would have all had to deal with that level of hyper-earnestness."
Edgar Wright directs The Running Man with a tone that mixes stylish humor, occasional terror, and crowd-pleasing heart while preserving a bleak dystopic core. Glen Powell leads with charisma and a self-aware restraint that avoids hyper-earnestness. The narrative largely follows Stephen King’s 1982 Richard Bachman novel while adding precise execution and surprising twists. A visible Bachman's restaurant Easter egg acknowledges the book's pseudonym. The remake channels the camp of the 1987 adaptation and modern Black Mirror–like commentary without becoming heavy-handed. The premise remains simple, horrifying, and effectively staged to keep audiences engaged.
Read at Inverse
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