3 min to read
The Running Man
Does Glen Powell do a good job recrating am Arnold Schwarzenegger classic?
Review: What if a man and his family were so poor, in order to get his daughter medicine and to give them a better life he had to join a gameshow where he was being hunted for his life? That is the exact premise of the story, and it’s as crazy as it sounds. Glen Powell plays Ben Richards, a father who is trying to help his family get out of the slums, and the only way he can think of doing so is by joining the game show called “The Running Man.”
Each season “The Running Man” has 3 contestants, each of whom are being chased by 5 hunters, whose sole job is to find and kill each of the contestants. These contestants sign up because if they can last 30 days and make it out alive, they are awarded the grand prize of $1 billion. Due to such a high prize pool, the stakes are high, and the hunters and the contestants are determined to win.
Over the course of the movie you learn more about Ben Richards, what drives him, what kind of person he is, and how resourceful he can be. Over the course of the movie not only are you rooting for Ben to win, you also learn more about the show with him. The more he understands the show, how it works, what they want from him, etc., the more he is able to understand how to game the system. Learning all of this with him really takes you (the audience) on a journey of understanding the game show so much more than you initially thought. From the time the show starts to the end, you realized the way to win is not what you think it is, making the story so much more interesting than you initially thought it would be.
Like in most movies though, going into the 3rd act there’s always a twist, and the twist in this movie both makes and breaks the movie for me personally. As you learn more about the game show, Ben starts doing things that turns scenarios and scenes crazy, turning everything up to an 11/10, making the ending so much more whacky, unexpected, and interesting than I was initially expecting. With that being said, what the 3rd act and ending struggled with was Ben’s motivations. Over the time of being hunted, his desires go from helping/supporting his family to something completely different (don’t want to say what it is as it may slightly spoil the ending). As this change happens, Ben turns from this very relatable man who just wants what is best for his family to a man out for revenge, and the ending really decides to double down on his change in motivations rather than what originally drove him to the games, making the ending feel a little disappointing despite being extremely unexpecting.
Overall, I had a great time watching this movie. If they could have found a way to make the ending just a little better, this would have been one of my favorite movies of the year. Glen Powell is so much fun to watch, and this movie is as crazy as it sounds, and it’s as fun as you’d want it to be.
Rating: 4/5
(I have not seen the original so I can’t compare them)
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