{"id":20300,"date":"2025-11-19T07:00:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T12:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=20300"},"modified":"2025-11-19T09:40:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T14:40:02","slug":"stephen-king-news-from-dead-zone-244","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/stephen-king-news-from-dead-zone-244\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #244"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Stephen<\/p>\n

Richard Bachman has had a very good year for adaptations. Previous to this year, it had been nearly thirty years since one of his novels was turned into a movie and now, within a span of several months, two Bachman books have turned up on the big screen with stellar casts. And even his wife (widow?) is getting in on the action. Read on!<\/p>\n

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I have to confess that I’ve never seen the original adaptation (to put it loosely) of The Running Man<\/em> all the way through, and it wasn’t until last month that I saw any part of it at all. When I heard it was leaving Netflix at the end of October, I decided to give it a shot. I ruffled a few Arnie fans on social medial when I commented that I found it dreadful and unwatchable. I tapped out after thirty minutes, which isn’t something I often do. Maybe I’ll try it again someday but probably not.<\/p>\n

I did, however, have no trouble sitting through the entire 2025 adaptation, which I thought was decent. It’s much truer to the Bachman novel except for the ending. It’s been a while since I read the book and I was able to be surprised by certain turns of event that are directly from or closely related to what’s in the novel.<\/p>\n

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The movie rests on the (frequently exposed) shoulders of Glen Powell as Ben Richards. He’s more relatable than Schwarzenegger, and he’s credibly able to pull off some heroic action scenes, including one where he’s naked (is it fun to be at the Y…V…A?), but his acting is rather unsubtle. He is the angriest man on earth, but his anger is so much on the surface that it overshadows his usual charisma. Plus he seems to be sweating through the entire movie, even when he’s not being chased!<\/p>\n

Colman Domingo pretty much stole the show as the gameshow host. His manic energy was pitch perfect. Josh Brolin made a good bad guy, someone who you might see selling reverse mortgages on TV ads. There are a few light moments (the hamster wheel contest was darkly humorous, and I laughed out loud at the van marked “Mulisha Boyz”), but for the most part the focus is on action—it’s all about running<\/em>, after all. Those scenes were, of course, very well done. They’re Edgar Wright’s jam. I particularly liked the one where Ben is in the trunk of a car while they’re being chased and someone is shooting at them. It’s staged from Ben’s point of view, so it’s jarring when a bullet comes through the side of the car.<\/p>\n

There were some very good supporting performances. William H. Macy was underutilized, in my opinion, but he’s always excellent and there’s a certain pathos to his scene when he reveals something Ben didn’t anticipate. Emilia Jones, fresh off her appearance in Task<\/em>, brought humor and gravitas to her character, coincidentally named “Amelia.” Her one-minute rant was particularly good.<\/p>\n

I though Michael Cera seemed a little flat at first, but then I realized his character was certifiable (although much saner than his mother!). His “five minutes of fun with goons” in a booby-trapped house was pure entertainment. David Zayas (Angel Batista from Dexter<\/em>) didn’t really convince me as a hardass boss, but that’s probably because I’m so used to seeing him in sympathetic roles.<\/p>\n

The movie updated certain things to the real 2025 (King’s novel was set this year). While there were doctored photographs in the book, the movie uses deep fakes and self-driving cars and DNA sniffers. Social aspects of the book are still relevant today, such as the increasing gap between the rich and the poor, the hunters masking their faces, people dying because they can’t afford health care, and the game being fixed to maximize ratings.<\/p>\n

I found the ending overlong and preachy. Social commentary in films works best for me when you derive it from the story rather than having characters deliver it in dialog. I understand why they felt the need to soften the blow of King’s ending (and give us a feel-good moment in the denouement), but it was just a bit too chaotic and hyper-everything for my taste.<\/p>\n

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Easter Eggs, we got ’em. Some movies really go hard with the Easter Eggs. The Running Man<\/em> is a bit more subtle, but there are still quite a few.<\/p>\n