The Running Man (In Theaters)

[g5000]

The Running Man starts out okay, gets better for a while, then rapidly turns into a big, fat turd.

This remake is marginally better than the original with Richard Dawson and Arnold Swarzenegger. There is a quick Easter egg in the remake when a 100 New Dollar bill is flashed onscreen with Ah-nuld's face on it.

I guess Glen Powell is the current action hero du juor. And we get lots of close-ups of Josh Brolin's fake teeth.

For those unfamiliar with the premise, future America is a dystopian nightmare run by a television network. The people are pacified with game shows and reality TV. The most popular game show is Running Man.

If the contestant can avoid being killed by a crack team of assassins for 30 days, he wins one billion New Dollars. These New Dollars appear to be worth more than our current US dollars.

To avoid the contestant holing up somewhere for 30 days, they must make a seven minute video every day, for broadcast purposes, and mail it in.

So things move along so-so for a while.

Then, out of the blue, the producers of this train wreck said to themselves, "Hey, let's put Michael Cera into the middle of this movie and turn it into a comedy!"

And so they did.

After that, whoever scotch-taped the rest of this movie together seems to have left most of the continuity on the cutting room floor. The whole thing becomes a stream of non sequiturs and let's-just-get-this-piece-of-shit-over-with idiocy.

Your money would be better spent on flat beer.

 

[citygator]

Mediocre. Was a fine brainless chase movie but ill never think about it again.

 

[JanetTheGreat]

The original Running Man movie is great. I don't think any remakes can top it.

 

[Natural Citizen]

The original Running Man movie is great. I don't think any remakes can top it.

Actually you don't realize just how much the first one sucked until you see this one.

The overall theme is the same.

But I, for one, never cared for Arnold's acting and cheesy one-liners, so. And the acting was about as B rated as it could possibly be.

So far as the bad reviews I've seen with regard to the modern remake, none have challenged the fundamental message as it pertains to the signs of the times and the state of society as a collective whole.

In that regard, one may asssume that some are just content to live in the network's wet dream of a programmed, slave society.

But its just a ride. You can turn it off and get off of it any time you want. It's a choice. One that requires a bit of courage to reflect on one's own self-awareness however. Now, yes, I know that waving our peckers back and forth at each other like we're ''winning'' something can be fun, and even defining for some if they shake it long anough. But they don't call it programming for nothing you know. Along the lines of ''programming,'' it was interesting that the movie touched on ''the network's'' use of modern AI to fulfill that gambit, too.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

The first one was bad enough, why try it again?
As far as King's books go - this one is probably one of the last I would choose to adapt to on screen.