The Running Man — Review

Between No Other Choice, Roofman, The Long Walk, Rent Free, Good Fortune, and now The Running Man, one of the prevalent themes in 2025’s new releases seems to be stories about ordinary people who are desperate to make ends meet financially, whether it’s based on a true story, grounded in present-day reality, set in a sci-fi dystopia, or a full-blown fantasy. Coincidentally, both Francis Lawrence’s The Long Walk and Edgar Wright’s The Running Man are based on Stephen King novels about people who enter deadly competitions for a chance at financial salvation, where the only way to survive is to keep moving. Despite their similarities, these two films could not be more different in terms of tone or style. The Long Walk is bleak, slow-burning, and introspective, while The Running Man is lighter, kinetic, and action-packed. Although King’s The Running Man was first adapted for the screen in 1987 by Paul Michael Glaser, Wright’s version proves the story is more than worthy of a revisit. His adaptation is both a more faithful retelling of King’s novel and a spirited homage to the campy, over-the-top energy audiences loved in the 1987 film.