Filmmaker Edgar Wright and critical acclaim typically go hand-in-hand, but the Baby Driver director’s take on The Running Man isn’t receiving the rave reviews we’re sure many of you expected it to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As we write this, The Running Man has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 64% based on 56 reviews. That puts it in “Fresh” territory, but if it slips by 5% or more, then it will earn the dreaded green splat. The original 1987\u00a0movie, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, sits at 59%.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Compared to Wright’s previous features, The Running Man is trailing behind Baby Driver (92%), Shaun of the Dead (92%), Hot Fuzz (91%), The World’s End (89%), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (83%), and Last Night in Soho (75%).<\/p>\n
“Edgar Wright\u2019s update of the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle of the same name, while it has no shortage of action and adrenaline, ends up feeling hollow,” writes The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>. “It also fails to erase lingering doubts about Glen Powell\u2019s viability as a leading man.”<\/p>\n Variety<\/a> has a slightly different take and points out, “Released in 1987, ‘The Running Man’\u00a0was a lumbering Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. You could say that Edgar Wright, the director of the new version, has made it into a decent Bruce Willis movie.”<\/p>\n “It’s Wright’s biggest, boldest canvas yet, and while it is less funny or flashily directed than his earlier fare, he doesn’t miss a chance to rib American popular culture or the capitalist horrors it fostered, as King once did,” Empire<\/a> states, with Total Film<\/a> sharing, “Ultimately, The Running Man is a run-of-the-mill action flick, which is bitterly disappointing for a film adapted from a Stephen King story, helmed by a skilled filmmaker like Edgar Wright, and starring one of cinema’s most promising leading men.”<\/p>\n In Mashable<\/a>‘s review, it’s said, “The Running Man is a sloppy collage of violence, action, and cheap jokes that is far more style than substance.” The Daily Telegraph<\/a> expands on that with, “It\u2019s perhaps Wright\u2019s first feature to feel, in a positive way, like the work of a director for hire: every flourish and trick here isn\u2019t in service of a singular creative vision so much as a great, rumbling excitement machine.”<\/p>\n USA Today<\/a> was much kinder, sharing, “A lively, satirical stab at modern-day reality TV, scary big-brother technology, cultural dissension and rampant income inequality, all slathered in blood-soaked ultraviolence and bonkers charm.” As The Times<\/a> puts it, “Well, at least we\u2019ll always have the Cornetto trilogy.”<\/p>\n In a near-future society, The Running Man is the top-rated show on television\u2014a deadly competition where contestants, known as Runners, must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins, with every move broadcast to a bloodthirsty public and each day bringing a greater cash reward.<\/p>\n Desperate to save his sick daughter, working-class Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is convinced by the show\u2019s charming but ruthless producer, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), to enter the game as a last resort. But Ben\u2019s defiance, instincts, and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favourite\u2014and a threat to the entire system.<\/p>\n As ratings skyrocket, so does the danger, and Ben must outwit not just the Hunters but a nation addicted to watching him fall.<\/p>\n Based on the novel by Stephen King, The Running Man is directed by Edgar Wright from a screenplay by Wright and\u00a0Michael Bacall. The movie stars\u00a0Glen Powell, William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Emilia Jones, Michael Cera, Daniel Ezra, Jayme Lawson, with Colman Domingo and Josh Brolin.<\/p>\n The Running Man arrives in theaters this Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first reviews are in for #TheRunningMan<\/a> – currently it\u2019s Fresh at 68% on the Tomatometer, with 28 reviews:https:\/\/t.co\/iUzoPh83Nf<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/IuKaqkjdj1<\/a><\/p>\n
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\n\u2014 Rotten Tomatoes \ud83c\udf45 (@RottenTomatoes) November 11, 2025<\/a>
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