The Running Man movie review: Glen Powell fails to dig deep, film becomes a drag | Movie-review News
In Stephen King’s novella ‘The Running Man’, which came out in 1982, the dystopia felt unreal. King conjured up a staggeringly unequal world, whose rich live in guarded enclaves, the poor are corralled into slums, and a child could easily die of the common flu if her parents cannot afford the drugs. Going by that old adage — those who can’t have bread, can be diverted by cake — citizens have been turned into sheep under the thumb of a totalitarian regime and an all-seeing network, numbed by high-octane, screaming 24/ 7 ‘entertainment’ to prevent them from thinking about their real problems. Story continues below this ad It was made into a movie in 1985, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as chief protagonist Ben Richards, a righteous man filled with righteous anger against the injustices heaped upon the poor and the downtrodden. By the kind of coincidence that the movie gods love, the new adaptation is out this year (yes, 2025 is the year King had set the book in), but this Glen Powell starrer, despite all …
