‘The Running Man’ review: Edgar Wright and Glen Powell deliver a wild but weak remake

Why make it? running man a comedy? Stephen King’s novel was a fiery political thriller about a man with no choice, forced to fight for his life (and family) against a corrupt government, an exploitative media, and a brutal capitalist system that turns poor people into victims of a cruel TV show that makes entertainment out of their murders. Yet when Edgar Wright, who has previously mixed horror and comedy Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, And The World’s Endread this book, he clearly thought about what is missing in running man It was an endless supply of slapstick and jokes, peppered with awkward product placement.

This doesn’t mean that a dystopian film can’t be a successful comedy. to see Zombieland, sorry to bother youLobsterOr tank girl (but not electrical stateStill its basic premise running man The novel, from which the film is largely influenced, is so dark and radical that it seems absurd to have a hunky movie star, Glen Powell, play a role that is both silly and sexy while still being politically challenging. (Maybe this is why the Schwarzenegger adaptation strayed so far from the book’s plot for a more daring, even cartoony, vision of dramatic dystopia.) What Wright’s film half-heartedly criticizes for, it doesn’t succeed, because the comedy constantly undercuts the wickedness of this particular dystopia. The result is a fascinating film that wants to have it both ways, in terms of violence and decency.

running man More true to King’s book than the Schwarzenegger version.

Katy O’Brien, Glen Powell and Martin Herlihy play runners in “The Running Man”.
Credit: Paramount Pictures

Exhibiting an athletic but ultra-muscular brand of masculinity, Glen Powell is a more grounded “running man”. A stark contrast to the 1987 action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. That adaptation took only a snippet of King’s novel to spin an outrageous tale fit for the pumped-up masculinity of its larger-than-life action star, who played a wrongfully convicted hero-cop surrounded by aggressive, muscular and eccentric predators with names like Fireball, Dynamo, and Buzzsaw.

In Wright’s more faithful adaptation, Powell is more of an everyman. Far from an almost supernatural personality, his Ben Richards is a blue-collar worker who has been fired from job after job for standing up for his fellow workers. Blacklisted for his “Commie” sympathies (Ben is pro-Union), he turns to The Network to care for his wife Sheila (Jamie Lawson) and their sick child Kathy.

Hosted by Dan Killian (Josh Brolin imitating Dennis Quaid pulling his chin forward) Substance), The Network, is a game show channel that leads desperate people into a series of vicious games that promise embarrassment, injury, and death in exchange for cash prizes. Richards is hoping for a less lethal show (like set the wheel in motion), but is inserted into Running man. To get back to her family, she must play by Killian’s twisted rules, surviving for 30 days while being tracked by paid “goons” (who have replaced the police) and a celebrity stalker named Evan McKeon (a masked Lee Pace). Making things even more difficult, fans of the show can report in on his location and get paid for tips for his execution on camera.

Fans of the book can appreciate Wright, who co-wrote the running man with him Scott Pilgrim Vs The World Collaborator Michael Bacall stays pretty close to King’s plot points for most of the runtime. However, where Wright turns toward comedy, he strays too far from King’s tone and intentions, and preys on the audience’s most basic impulses for a bloody, mindless cinematic spectacle.

running man Pulls his punches through slapstick.

Glen Powell, left, and Michael Cera star in “The Running Man.”
Credit: Paramount Pictures

Let’s start with violence. From gunshot wounds to booby traps and explosions, there’s a lot going on. Yet Wright is cautious Who Will get hurt onscreen. The unnamed “runners” of the titular TV show would be served as comedic canon fodder in a mindless montage meant to explain the show’s premise and inevitability. The violence spectacle will be filled with a gang of goons in the grinder. But when it comes to characters audiences can invest in – whether they’re heroes to love or villains to hate – Wright holds back, with a few exceptions.

Important plot points involving the deaths of major characters don’t make much of an impact as Wright either escapes the killing blow or saves the police from a massacre that could have had such a violent ending (especially in a film where life is cheap and bloodshed is lavish). When it comes to the deaths of good guys, this casualness towards onscreen violence can be explained as we don’t really want to spoil the fun of this action-comedy by forcing us to think about the actual horror of such violence. But why so easily dwell on the film’s major ills? Why should they throw punches?

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The kind of violence that will happen everywhere running manWhile the R-rating actually seems appropriate, Wright provides a restrained stimulus: cursing. There are many four-letter words that are probably supposed to be funny, or manly, or defiant. But Richards and others repeatedly calling those oppressive officials “dirt eaters” just seems childish (especially when he’s literally escaping from the sewers and eating dirt).

running man Afraid of directly confronting American politics.

Colman Domingo plays a TV presenter with style in “The Running Man”.
Credit: Paramount Pictures

What’s most frustrating, however, is that Wright and Bacall use comedy to dilute any political seriousness or even dramatic tension in the film. For example, Ben is running for his life from hunters, but the nudity is used for entertainment. Powell not only towels off and then takes off his birthday suit, but also joins in on his messy escapade by performing a dangerous stunt because of a cheap joke. To quote Ben, “Why?!” Later in the film, a quirky sidekick is played scott pilgrim Leading man Michael Cera gives an impassioned speech about police corruption Immediately Make a joke by casually linking to a real-world energy drink brand. Why allow criticism when we can console mainstream audiences with cosmetic falsehoods?

Of course, there is a way to make a political statement when working in brand sponsorships. consider how josie and the pussycats This type of branding was made into a villain within the plot of its film, while also involving a plethora of brand names, or how fight Club Brand names were displayed only during intense scenes of violence or terrorism. Wright is nowhere near as daring, making bland punchlines without critiquing the appearance of each product placement. Plus, it’s hard to take the political monologue about poverty Richards yells at a rich, white girl (Emilia Jones) while she’s showing off her $20,000 dress, all seriously. as i said lost bus, Hollywood leading men apparently can’t play poor people with expensive smiles. look at leonardo dicaprio Killers of the Flower Moon. he understood!

Yet one of the most absurd choices Wright makes is how he carefully frames this dystopia of severe economic inequality as a place devoid of racial politics. Set in a world that references both Schwarzenegger’s political career and President Barack Obama, running man Criticism of economic inequality is careful to avoid systemic racial inequality. These choices in screenwriting and casting might be an editorial in themselves, but require a lot of spoilers. Essentially, Wright appears to avoid issues of race so as not to risk making his audience uncomfortable while watching slaughter for entertainment. He presents an American dystopia where people are lining up to watch the show so they can learn what it means to have wealth for a short period of time, and yet they have overcome racism?

Perhaps it’s foolish to expect a studio-produced film with a reported budget of $100 million to have anything challenging to say about American society. Perhaps it’s best we leave it to the foreign filmmakers who gave us such a hilarious, thrilling, And as thought provoking films triangle of sorrowparasite, And mickey 17, (Oh, wait. That last one Was An American-Studio-produced film – also from this year!)

still, running man It’s not all that infuriating.

the best part of running man Is a character actor.

Daniel Ezra, left, and Angelo Giorgio Gray play brothers in “The Running Man.”
Credit: Paramount Pictures

Props to Brolin, who, as he has Weapon And in the Avengers movies, he goes all out in playing a real cruel bastard. Pace, though criminally under wraps for much of the film, still displays a thrilling intensity through sheer physicality as the ruthless head hunter. Colman Domingo is thrilling as the ruthless host running manProviding killer fashion sense and Caesar Flickerman-level showmanship for government propaganda. William H. Macy brings a suitable mystery man-Like Fatigue as a caring black market trader. sandra dickinson channel it As a deranged fan of running man TV show. Michael Cera brings a grounded honesty as a zine-making rebel before succumbing to Wright’s indulgence home alone-Like intelligence. Angelo Giorgio Gray and Daniel Ezra bring heart to life as a pair of brothers twisted by a problematic script. And Katie O’Brien, who keeps starring in big movies but doesn’t know what to do with them – watch twisterschristieAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, And Mission: Impossible – The Final ReckoningAll the films in which O’Brien has brief but sensational roles – a lot of fun.

In running man, She’s another runner, committed to bizarre debauchery, she doesn’t hide from the cameras, but gets loud and boisterous in strip clubs and casinos. This woman is a dynamo with an explosive screen presence. To know more about him, see love Lies Bleeding And queens of the dead, And join me in showcasing a big budget movie that thinks it should play the lead role.

Katie O’Brien stars in “The Running Man”.
Credit: Paramount Pictures

Any how, running man It is a strange film. Through a collection of wild game shows and a keeping up with the Kardashians called parody The Americanos, Wright offers a critique of how reality TV can placate the masses by turning class conflict into easily digestible entertainment. But then he dilutes this same popcorn-chewing fuel and presents a fictional version of it. running manThe underlying politics of pandering to the audience’s bloodlust and avoiding taboo subjects like race.

Perhaps Wright was less interested in adapting King’s novel than in doing his own take on the concept that made the Schwarzenegger version so wild. Perhaps this English filmmaker never intended to say anything so profound about American society. But playing so close to King’s concept by adopting the clichés of American action movies creates an inconsistency that is not only unsatisfying, but infuriating. Ultimately, running man It’s a messy collage of violence, action and cheap jokes that’s more stylistic than substance.

running man Will be released in theaters on 14 November.