Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Starring: Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, Lee Pace, Michael Cera
Where to watch: Prime Video
To watch or not to watch: Even though it is a much anticipated movie by the most creative director of last decade, this movie fails to do justice to it’s subject matter
This movie is set in a dystopian world where the country is almost ruled by a broadcasting network (creatively) called the Network in the parallel with the government. Most of the population lived below poverty line, in squalor and money and power resides with a select few, as is with any authoritarian/totalitarian regime. Network has a reality show called The Running Man where a contestant fights to survive for 30 days in exchange for $1 billion. In this world, there resides our hero Ben Williams (Glen Powell) who is not able to afford flu medicine for his 2 year old kid. He then decides to play for The Running Man, if it meant saving his daughter and giving a better life to his family. He is joined by 2 other contestants, who are a little more naive/optimistic than him. As the “game” progresses, we learn how rigged it is, with well-equipped hunters doing everything to ensure the contestants do not win. The game is hosted by Bobby T (Colman Domingo) who is removed from the plight of the people and is only a show piece. The real muscle behind the Network is Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) who is the scary kind of evil – calm and too self-assured. The contestants don’t have any chance of bettering the game or the Network as all the stakes are against them. But our hero Ben fights against all the odds, or at least tries to.
A few years ago, there was a movie called Jackpot starring Awkwafina and John Cena which was on the similar lines, without a dystopian world and all powerful Network, but hilarious nonetheless. It is not meant to be taken seriously and the makers are self-aware. This is exactly the problem with Edgar Wright’s movie – it doesn’t know what it wants to be. It is equal parts Scott Pilgrim and a socialist’s manifesto. The cinematography of the movie by Chung Chung-hoon is on point and does elicit an emotional response from the viewer. The 80s aesthetic with the sci-fi future is shown on point. But that’s where the movie’s promise ends. The world setting of the movie in act 1 is very quick and effective, leaving a huge margin to develop the story and characters, but that is sacrificed for style, which leaves the viewers quite apathetic towards the characters. It also fails to prove a point or even instill hope in the viewer as most of the people in the movie are portrayed to be too desperate to be good, too selfish to be considerate, which does not land the point home of hope, and hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things.
Edgar Wright is one director who is not pinned down by genres – be it horror movies like Hot Fuzz and Last Night in Soho, or action-packed Scott Pilgrim, etc, and that too with a blend of genres. Even in movies where he was associated tangentially, his signature style of quick zooms and pans were visible and made for great storytelling. But here where the story was already in place by the great Stephen King, the execution is bland. One would be hard-pressed to determine if the movie was an Edgar Wright work. But that is ok, he has proven himself more times that he hasn’t so there is no cause for worry, he will be back soon and better for it (“calm down heart. all is not lost”). In other news, has anyone else noticed how Josh Brolin is in everything these days? Anyway, give The Running Man a miss, and if you are looking for fun escapism, opt for Jackpot.
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