Escape This – The Running Man Movie Review

Set in 2045 when the world economy has collapsed and everything is controlled by a media network called The Network which shows reality TV/game shows all day and night. One of the biggest hits is called The Running Man. Contestants, also referred to as “runners”, get $1000 and a 24-hour head start to escape getting caught by the “hunters” for 30 days. The prize – 1 billion dollars, plus your family gets regular payouts if you survive for predetermined number of days. Get caught and you are executed on live TV. The hunters are led by the mysterious Major McCone who always remains masked.

Those who cannot afford a great lifestyle live in the slums. They take up jobs forcing them to work in terrible conditions to make ends meet. Ben Richards (Glen Powell) has recently been fired from his job for dissident behaviour. Needing desperately to take care of his sick child, he decided to sign up for a reality quiz show. During the screening process, he gets selected for The Running Man. Though he had promised his wife not to join that specific program, he is convinced by the show’s Executive Producer Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) to participate since the rewards are much higher.

Ben is introduced to the show along with two others whose names you will forget before the movie ends. What starts as a simple game of hide and seek turns out to be a political statement for supporting the poor and exposing the Network’s propaganda. The rest of the story takes you on Ben’s journey as he tries to bring down the Network. This abrupt change of direction is jarring and leaves you wondering if the director pulled a bait-and-switch on you.

There is no inkling that there are dissident groups or a revolution ready to erupt, until the point where it is convenient to bring it up. Ben Richards needs the help, right? We are shown people suddenly risking life and limb to help Ben when just a few days ago they would have sold him out for the reward that the Network would pay. The way the revolution is portrayed at the end also makes minimal sense.

The plot armour for the main character is so thick it defies logic and makes the whole movie unbelievable (even for a bleak fictional future). Ben is able to convince random strangers to help him even though he has given no evidence to show he is different from past participants. All his video check-ins are altered by the Network before being aired and show him as a rude person mocking the masses. He can survive hundreds of gunshots from the police and the hunters. Ah! Before I forget, he is able to hijack a car on the freeway that belongs to a reality TV star. This gives him a bargaining chip like no other.

While Dan, the Executive Producer is the “main” villain, the grunt work is done by Major McCone. Spoiler Alert – He is an ex-Running Man contestant who almost won the show, but was converted to a hunter by Dan. This also means that we see McCone for most of the movie as the bad guy. However, the way he handles the final scenes including his death is completely at odds with his menacing persona.

The plot is weak and is the biggest let down of the movie. Acting is about average. Glen Powell does a decent job as he goes through the roller coaster of emotions. The supporting characters are fleeting. Whether it is Ben’s co-contestants or the people who help him during his run, they either get killed off or Ben moves to a new location and has no contact with them anymore. Speaking of location, the sets of the dystopian future looks well made. However, they seem to have taken elements from other movies like In Time.

A movie I wouldn’t recommend just because it didn’t make sense and tried to do many things at once – totalitarian society, high stakes chase and parody. 1.5 stars out of 5 (and I am being generous).