O Sobrevivente

Absolutely baffling that Edgar Wright gets hold of a Stephen King novel and it comes out like his most studio-approved movie yet. Where is the edge? The style? The wit is filtered, the action diluted. Don't get me started on the ending - be bold you cowards!

A few of the sequences save the movie from being completely dull. Cursed Home Alone and the hotel stuff give the movie some of its life, the rest supplied by the actors in top form. Powell, Brolin, Domingo, Cera, and Brother Day (Pace) are excellent here.

It needed a tighter script, clever editing and any idiosyncrasies. Basically, it needed an Edgar Wright who still had things to prove. Maybe he was scared of another Ant-Man scenario? Who can say.

Perhaps it's unfair to judge the film with Hot Fuzz seared into the synapses, but an inherent injustice is thematically appropriate, and I am feeling mighty wronged.

It didn't make a lick of sense, the addition of running in the world and the hunters being just dudes in camo and ski masks, the girl only exists for a minute around an hour and half into the movie... It was worse by far in every respect than the Arnie movie, it felt an hour too long, it was dumb rather than a romp or farcical l.

It was too silly to be serious, scenes were too long-winded to be fast-paced, the action existed and were fine for what they were, but it was too many plot points and too many subplots, and too many focus-shifting, the producer and host being different people was messy, and the last couple of scenes after the plane fight were moronic.

It just felt like a bunch of poor to average fight and action set pieces and the movie was just there to put them in order and give them an excuse to happen.

It wasn't fun, compelling or interesting at all, but it wasn't actively bad.

The Running Man had everything it needed to become an unforgettable remake for a new era: a superb director with an enviable track record in Edgar Wright, a unique premise based on a Stephen King novel, an iconic 80s adaptation starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, a huge budget, and a charismatic lead in Glen Powell.

Yet somehow, it ended up becoming the most generic, bland-looking adaptation imaginable-something that could easily pass for yet another forgettable Netflix action movie.

Despite its premise being more relevant than ever in today's society, the film squanders every opportunity. Instead of leaning into its unsettling themes, it delivers a shallow, almost childish message. The story steadily loses steam scene by scene, drifting into randomness and culminating in a terrible third act that strips away any real stakes or emotional resonance, all in favor of a cliché happy ending clearly aiming to set up a sequel that will never happen.

The visuals and action sequences are equally uninspired. They're entertaining, sure, but they have none of the flair, wit, or creativity that define Edgar Wright's style. Ironically, the film's entertainment value rests almost entirely on Glen Powell's shoulders-he brings energy and charisma despite a script that gives him little to work with.

In the end, The Running Man is an entertaining enough popcorn flick, but it leaves absolutely no impact. It's a painfully wasted opportunity that could-and should-have been so much more.

I've never read The Running Man novel, and I thought the 1987 Schwarzenegger film was a fun but forgettable piece of cheesy sci-fi. That's why I was genuinely excited for a new take-especially with Edgar Wright directing. I adore Baby Driver and Hot Fuzz, and I've never disliked anything he's made. While his 2025 version doesn't break that streak, it's easily my least favourite of his films, though still an enjoyable watch overall.

Glen Powell steps in as Ben Richards, a desperate father who agrees to compete on the deadly TV show The Running Man to save his seriously ill child. The month-long hunt for a billion-dollar prize sets up plenty of opportunities for standout supporting roles, and the cameos are a lot of fun. My favourite stretch involves Michael Cera, whose scenes with Powell have great energy and chemistry.

Where the film let me down was in its pacing and surprisingly heavy exposition. For a director known for sharp, kinetic action, Wright delivers a film that feels a bit low-energy and light on set-pieces, especially for a 2-hour-13-minute runtime. The action that is there works, but the storytelling feels too spread out, and the script over-explains things instead of trusting the audience. It also lacks the usual Edgar Wright stylistic punch, which made something feel slightly off.

Even so, Powell gives a committed performance, and the supporting cast-especially Coleman Domingo-brings a lot to the table. The action is fun when it arrives, and despite some characters needing more screen time, everyone makes their moments count. The 2025 Running Man is a great film delivered in an average way, but it's still entertaining and absolutely worth a look, even if it falls short of greatness.

This is, for 90% of the film, entertaining stuff, but without spoilers, why oh why do so many films feel the need to make endings so poor? I appreciate that for a lot of viewers good v bad is a pure binary, and that an ending has to be clear - but it makes for poor story telling. I think I am part of the target audience for this film, but I wish the film makers would credit us with being able to deal with nuance and ambiguity. The ending felt ridiculously contrived and, almost, abbreviated - for me it undermined what was a rollicking, fun, action film.

Having said all of that, it worth saying I'd still recommend this movie, Glen Powell clearly has fun in the title role. I saw the original when it came out in the late 80's - and this version is nothing like the original, other than very superficially. This film does, however, have a number of references to the first version - not least the picture of Arnold on the currency.

This is well Directed, if somewhat predictable and cliched. The action is unrelenting, and enjoyable. The script doesn't get in the way. Inevitably, one can look at the current state of politics and transpose this dystopian story onto current events - there did appear to be a deliberate slant in this film.

An entertaining movie - mostly.