Minor missteps don't hinder the second adaptation of "The Running Man"

After a four-year hiatus, director Edgar Wright brings his creative eye to the world of Stephen King for the second adaptation of “The Running Man” from Paramount Pictures. Wright also pens the screenplay with Michael Bacall.

Stephen King’s The Running Man, first published under his Richard Bachman alias, was always a bleak sprint through desperation — a working-class nightmare dressed as a thriller. While the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring spectacle is still a fine slice of eighties action, it didn’t nail the gritty intent of King’s novel.

Edgar Wright’s new take brings the story closer to the novel. Gone are the neon spandex and cartoonish catchphrases; in their place is a grim, sweat-soaked vision of America collapsing under its own hunger for entertainment. Glen Powell steps into the role of Ben Richards, a factory worker turned fugitive forced into a sadistic game show where survival is currency and morality is optional.

Powell trades quips for grit, giving Richards a raw, blue-collar edge. Josh Brolin delivers oily charm as Dan Killian, the network exec who sells death as primetime fun, while Colman Domingo exudes effortless menace as the show’s puppet master and host. William H. Macy, Daniel Ezea and Michael Cera also shine as off-the-grid tricksters while Katy O'Brien is good as a fellow runner and Jayme Lawson shines as Richards wife.

Wright stages the chaos with his trademark visual snap, but this isn’t the pop-punch of "Baby Driver" or "Scott Pilgrim". The humor is sharper, the tone heavier, and the satire cuts close to home. Fake commercials, bloodthirsty viewers, and government spin-doctors all create a world that feels a half-step away from our own.

Furthermore, what makes this version sing, though, is its melancholy. Beneath the explosions and drone shots lies a story about poverty, dignity, and what people will do when the system leaves them behind. Powell’s Richards isn’t a musclebound superhero — he’s an everyman who’s simply out of options.

Still, Wright’s natural energy sometimes works against him. At two-plus hours, the film runs a tag overlong — lingering just a bit too long on spectacle when the story begs for suffocating tension. In addition, it’s a crime that Domingo and Daniel Ezra never share the screen — a missed opportunity that could’ve elevated the film’s emotional core.

Wright’s The Running Man won’t have audiences chanting catchphrases, but it will leave them thinking. It’s a darker, smarter, more human interpretation — one that honors King’s novel while reminding us that the line between entertainment and exploitation keeps getting thinner.

Final Grade: B

“The Running Man” opens in theaters on Thursday, November 14th.