Desperate times call for desperate measures. That's what The Running Man is about really desperate, crazy, insane and risky measures to achieve a goal.
The Running Man is a 2025 sci-fi action movie, set in a United States ruled by a media network called The Network, whose audience consists mostly of the poor population who have little or no access to health care.
So they deal with violent game shows and reality TV shows to grab and keep the attention of their audience. Their most violent and most sought after show is The Running Man where in this, the runners can earn a billion dollars if they survive being hunted by 5 people called “The Hunters” as well as the ordinary citizens who must report anytime they are spotted in the city.
With other many rules to keep the game more “intresting”. Ben Richards a blue collar worker in the slums of the city has a wife and a daughter but his daughter has come down with the flu and even with the wife working hard and taking extra shifts it still isn't enough to afford a good enough medicine that can cure her of her illness.
So he tries to join one of the game shows not interested in joining the running man but is later convinced to join in. Ben gets to give only one call to his wife before he goes off to go on the show to tell her about it even though she is not all for it, she gets it.
This show is entirely controlled and scripted to go in a way where it is near impossible or supposed to be impossible to win or come out alive but instead make it seem to the runners that they have a chance of survival.
Ben goes through hell and back with a lot of determination to get back to his family and is about ready to do anything to reach that goal. That's one of the things I love about this move: his fierce determination to get back to his daughter.
This movie basically portrays how the government, the network in this case like to blindside their citizens especially the lower class ones into believing whatever narrative they feed them about anything they do whether it is to the advantage of the citizens or not-most times it's not-just to cover up their evil deeds.
As the move goes, it shows that the people in the lower class suffer a whole deal mostly because of the recklessness of either the government or the higher class because they feel nobody's gonna do anything about it.
Initially, Ben's only goal was to get back to his family and wanted nothing to do with any revolution whatsoever but down the line, he saw the consequences of this recklessness and decided why couldn't he do both.
Another I love about this movie is the thrill and the ability it had to keep me on my toes. That people were also still ready to help him even with the bounty and the majority of the people after him shows that not everyone is bad.
Ben was a very passionate character that even after the consequences he faced sticking his neck out for people he cared about, it still didn't force him to become a bad person.
I'd rate this a 5/5 and I'll recommend it to anyone who loves action and thriller movies. I'd also love to hear your thoughts on the movie too.
Lots of love from jhymie 🥰