The Running Man (2025) – Friday 14th November 2025

Let’s be real, this movie was never going to live up to the original, but still, with the very capable Edgar Wright at the helm, I thought it would at least be decent.

Unfortunately, it was crap.

I mean, usually in screenwriting, you’re told to compress the time frame of a story to make it more tense, especially when it comes to a game of ‘cat and mouse’. So why in the hell did they make the ludicrous decision to have this film take place over the course of 30 days??!!

This film may be more faithful to the source material, but in this case, that’s not a good thing! Whilst it does make it a completely different film than the original, it definitely doesn’t make it a better one!

One the appeals of Arnie’s character in the original, was that he was an innocent man that was framed by the system; there was an injustice to his situation that made it personal. The motivation for the protagonist in this film is so he can earn money to pay for his daughter’s medication; hardly as visceral, especially given that he ‘volunteers’ to take part in the game show, as opposed to being forced to take part, as was the case with Arnie’s character.

The film is also riddled with political ideology with all the understanding and nuance of a social media post! Rich people bad, poor people good. It’s frankly insulting, and is the definition of Hollywood dumbing down movies to appeal the lowest common denominator.

None of the cast have the charisma to step into the shoes of the original cast, and although Glen Powell is likeable in a romcom, as an action star, he doesn’t quite cut the mustard.

I could go on and on, but there’s no point really. This film was yet another crappy Hollywood reboot/remake, from which there seems little escape!