'The Runner' Review
- Connor Petrey
- 51 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Release Date: 09/02/26 [Prime Video]
Genre: Action. Drama. Thriller.
MPAA: Rated PG13.
Distributor: Amazon MGM Studios.
The Verdict: A Mistake
Run, run as fast as you can. Reminiscent of more active styles of filmmaking such as Premium Rush, Inheritance, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Kidnap, or even Phone Booth, the issue is that all five of these remain in my mind to this day; The Runner will not be able to keep up the pace.
The film follows an attorney who is set to represent a key witness for a high-profile case, who is thrown into a spiral when her son is kidnapped and she is forced to run across London to assassinate her witness. Her son, who has diabetes, has been slowly overdosed with insulin and has only an hour to live. So it’s a race against the clock to save her son.
There are two major issues with The Runner - for one, for an 80-minute runtime, this movie is a bore; yes, she’s always in motion; yes, the camera is always in motion attempting to replicate the dynamic chaos of the Crank series, but without the authentic flair behind it. Secondly, Gal Gadot continues to disappoint in her performances, as this is a perfect piece of filmmaking that is really only herself and the mysterious caller, and her “raw” emotion is anything but compelling. Her delivery is stagnant and dry and removed from fear, even though it’s clear her character is meant to be in a constant state of panic. Gadot’s eyes and body language could be saying one thing, but then as soon as she unleashes her line, all that effort is tossed to the side.
However, the truth of the matter is that, no matter the actor in the role, the direction would’ve held the experience back significantly; just look at Academy Award winner Halle Berry in Kidnap, an awful film, yet a talented actor at the forefront. I wanted more from the psychological game that the caller was playing on Gadot’s Maia’s psyche. Still, ultimately we were shortchanged by the tease of a great eerie performance by Damian Lewis.
The Runner, despite its desire to distract with its manic camera work and editing, hardly keeps the flow of events interesting, and the result, which is the entirety of the third act, is obnoxiously revealed in slow motion to add to the satisfaction… I can only imagine. From the simplistic, underwhelming dialogue, the pathetic excuse of acceleration, and the severe lack of emotional depth, this runner ran out of breath shortly after starting.
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