Second adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘The Running Man’ gets the action right but stumbles over the commentary

“The Running Man,” the second adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 dystopian thriller, can’t decide whether it wants to run a sprint or a marathon. On one hand, it’s a pulse-pounding blitz of kinetic carnage and visceral action sequences, drenched in dark, pithy quips that fly a mile a minute. On the other, slower hand, it’s a prescient (if toothless) portrayal of extreme wealth inequality, of the humiliations the have-nots suffer just to get through the day.

Directed by Edgar Wright from a script by Wright and Michael Bacall, “The Running Man” succeeds far more often at the former element. But when it tries to bridge the gap between the two, it begins to stumble, essentially becoming a crunchy action film that doesn’t really know what to do with its heavier, more interesting themes.

But I will give “The Running Man” this: At least it tries to tackle those thematic elements, unlike the 1987 version starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Read the full review at The Seattle Times.

Three “Look at that Tom Cruise run!” stars out of five.

Photo caption: Ben Richards (Glen Powell, center) has no choice but to participate in “The Running Man” game show in order to save his sick daughter. (Ross Ferguson / Paramount Pictures)