Welcome to Movie Monday! Each week we will look at a movie either in theaters or available to stream by a major streamer. We will briefly review the movie, and tell you why it is enjoyable. This isn’t meant to be a detailed criticism, rather, a celebration of why a movie is entertaining or worth the watch. We will typically avoid spoilers, but if there are any, we will denote that clearly before it appears in the review. This week, we’ll be looking at The Running Man.
A disclaimer, I have not seen the original starring Arnold Schwarzenegger therefore I can draw no comparisons. For this 2025 version, I can tell you it was an enjoyable time.
I find Glen Powell to be someone easy to root for, and despite his character being a much rougher and short tempered person, his anger is what drives his character (and the story) to be successful.
One of the interesting things about The Running Man that stood out was the very linear usage of supporting characters. There were around a handful of characters that would appear, be present and important for about 10 minutes, and then disappear and never be shown again.
This style is not often used in movies like this, and I found it refreshingly simple rather than trying to think of a way to show earlier characters just for the heck of it at the end.
They serve their purpose, they move on. It doesn’t mean they’re all killed off, they’re just not needed anymore. I do have some questions for the ending however.
I won’t reveal much for the sake of not spoiling but I think they could have made different choices from the plane sequence on. The ending feels like it has one foot into a Hollywood ending and one foot into an ambiguous “what actually changed?” ending.
Ultimately, The Running Man won’t reinvent the wheel and be your all time favorite, but it does provide some good action entertainment that is worth a jaunt to the theater.
The Running Man is currently showing in theaters.
