The Running Man is a pretty horrible movie. Itâs full of bad acting, clunky dialogue, and scenes that drag to the point where the film feels like it never ends. Itâs nowhere near as entertaining as the classic Arnold Schwarzenegger version, and you can skip this mess completely.
A Flat, Modernized Rehash
The story gets old fast. Itâs another Hollywood attempt at writing for a âmodern audience,â and the message is loud and clear: Corporate America is bad, America is bad, and corporations supposedly made everyone poor. Thereâs no middle class in sight â just âexecsâ at the top and everyone else beneath them.
The villains are painfully generic. The new Hunters donât hold a candle to the wild, over-the-top WWE-style characters from the original. Even Josh Brolin and Colman Domingo canât come close to replacing Richard Dawsonâs iconic presence.
Weak Characters and Worse Dialogue
The Running Man 2025 simply isnât fun. And the misfires pile up:
You donât smash a window and threaten to choke someone out. You say youâre going to smash their face in. The line reeks of dialogue written by someone whoâs never been in a fight. Later in the movie, Powell nearly gets choked out himself â unintentionally hilarious.
Powell also keeps asking the villains some version of, âYouâre going to keep me from being with my wife and daughter?â He repeats it multiple times, and each moment falls completely flat.
He is also supposedly on the run and keeps looking back. That drove me nuts.
Then thereâs the late addition of Amelia, which goes nowhere. And the ending somehow manages to be even worse.
Add in what feels like DEI-driven funding decisions, and the film hits a brick wall.
The Verdict
The Running Man (2025) fails on nearly every level â action, tone, casting, script, and basic entertainment value. It brings none of the fun, grit, or personality of the original, and its messaging-first approach smothers whatever story it tried to tell.
Youâll get more enjoyment by rewatching the Schwarzenegger classic.
4/10
