The Running Man 2025 Movie Review

Stephen King adaptations on the rise, and book adaptations in general including The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El Hai, and other SK adaptations such as The Long Walk, and IT: Welcome to Derry,

With the The Running Man 2025 Movie, the line between dystopian fiction and everyday life has blurred enough to make this movie barely a satire in the exact year ( 2025) the 1982 book says it is set.

The Plot of The Running Man 2025 Movie

The story of the Stephen King Novel The Running Man which was written in 1982 is set in 2025, making our current reality a parallel universe I guess. In King's version of a dystopian USA, basic medical care, and the necessities of life are all too expensive to afford because of an apathetic government, greedy corporations, a broken economy and non-existent human values.

This movie covers the journey of Ben Richardson, who after doing various dangerous jobs to make money and having a tough time keeping those jobs is forced to go on a violent reality show to provide for his sick daughter and wife. What plays out is a twisted narrative that manipulates the players on the show through set actions and atrocities.

Check out Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg's Nightfall Novel

The Running Man 2025 is faithful to the Stephen King book until the ending where, apparently it all falls apart. Also the ending in the movie which is bleak enough seems to be way darker in the book according to the r/scifi sub on Reddit. Even while I haven't read the book, I prefer the "sunnier" version presented in Edgar Wright's movie ending in something resembling vigilante justice.

References and Easter Eggs

The Running Man is referenced by Anthony Mackie as The Falcon in The Winter Soldier movie while admiring Captain America's athletic ability doing laps in front of the Washington Monument, Reflecting Pool, and Lincoln Memorial.

Arnold S currency notes Easter Egg is particularly nostalgic and reminds one of Arnold's biggest movies, Total Recall 1990

One particular scene reminds me of the Arnold's Wanted posters in the 1990 movie about Mars. But particularly with regard to Glen Powell it reminds me of his role in the Netflix movie Hit Man.

There is a scene that reminds me of the scene in avatar where the big military CO makes a speech near shades and ventilation ducts that resemble the American Flag. However there is no nuance in Edgar Wright's scene with the flag being shown in all its glory.

Edgar Wright style of syncing action with the music is evident in this movie with it being a lot more subtle unlike Baby Driver which was a 2 hour action soundtrack.

The Cast of The Running Man 2025 Movie

Josh Brolin plays the role of easily hateable antagonist behind the curtains of the fictional media conglomerate called The Network whose name has all the subtlety of a cold forging hammer. The currency is called New Dollar with Arnold on it and television is called Free-Vee which seems to be a play on how entertainment which seems to free is the complete opposite, paid by ads and the public buying stuff.

The Running Man 2025 is a hard satire on reality TV and income inequality that is in no way subtle and of course its direct credit should go to Stephen King for writing the story of this dystopia.

Michael Cera gets dangerously close to badass and then is pulled by one of those action wires back into his usual self. One of the scenes is reminiscent of Jack Quaid in Heads of State, except Quaid does it way better, especially after being put through the coals in The Boys. Something tells me this is a one-off for the boy next door actor until he hits 50.

Colman Domingo as Bobby Thompson plays the equivalent of Stanley Tucci's Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games movie trilogy.

Katy M. O'Brian as Laughlin plays a highly spirited TRM contestant and Emilia Jones of CODA fame plays Amelia Williams. Lee Pace of Foundation TV Series plays Evan McCone.

Martin Herlihy whom you would've seen in Happy Gilmore 2 as an amateur golfer plays one of the weaker contestants in The Running Man 2025.

Lee Pace also has an important action oriented role in this movie and involves a small twist. Lee's ability to play anything from an Asimov character to one from J R R Tolkien's character is truly impressive.

Powell gives us a whole archive of frustrated expressions throughout the movie that can only be described as unhinged.

Should You Watch It?

Yes, regardless of whether you have watched the Arnold version or if you have read the book. It has a lot of action, a simple plot and brilliant execution with highly entertaining plot elements. Don't expect the movie to be fully faithful to the Stephen King book and you should be fine.