Runner

Landing on "Runner": First Impressions

While channel surfing, I discovered the movie Runner, a PG-13 action-comedy-thriller. With a runtime of 1 hour and 37 minutes, the first act grabs you from the title card. An ex-soldier reluctantly partners into the fray to stop a lethal cartel to transport a time sensitive medication to save a young girl's life. An action packed storyline coupled with Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson sure has an interesting start. Being a physical action star, Ritchson takes on his straight laced ex-military persona. Wilson does what he does best and confuses the situation while being cute at it. The action sequences that Scott Waugh helms is very refreshing, especially the first one. They are clean, impactful and very enjoyable from a PG-13 perspective. The first act uses the high speed chase and action sequences to quickly grab an audiences attention. Outside of the poublic and action sequence, Runner uses a lot of cards to quickly explain the lean mean "one shot one kill" objective to keep the audience attention. The cast is well diversified and uses their strengths and personalities. Runner is commendable in what they set out to do, make a good action movie.

The Long Haul: Holding Up Against the Flip Test

As the audience progresses through the film, the original hook must be transformed and scaled into the audience’s overall engagement. “Runner” does a good job maintaining this and avoiding the drag of too many subplots and too much exposition. The visual quality of any HD stream is important, and solidly meets the needs. The action scenes are clear as are the cinematography and the colorful explosions on screen. The sound design is excellent, and each of the film’s punches and pops pulls the audience into that world. The film’s high energy chemistry of Ritchson and Wilson is one of its strongest elements. They have great chemistry and, beyond the action and the violence, great banter. At times the film leans into the archetype of its characters, but for the most part, the leads’ and the film’s chemistry takes us along the emotional journey of the characters, especially in a story that is lacking on that front. The plot, while engaging, is not too complex and does cover a lot of action-thriller plot ground. One could say these plots are predictable, but the fast moving plot and quick paced film are both great to watch and will keep you engaged the entire time.

Keep or Flip: Live Cricket vs. "Runner"

Let’s see how "Runner" stacks up against the “ultimate flip test” of TV or, more importantly, cricket. This is a tough one since the answer is largely predicated on your mood and tolerance for genre tropes. If you are looking for a high-energy action-comedy with exciting leads, “Runner” is a fine option. I would say it is most worthwhile for the aforementioned driving, explosions, and snappy dialogue. It is one of the better options available on Friday for an evening decompression. Critics showed it some love, which makes sense, since it really is competently made, also un original. No audience reviews exist, but this will most likely find an appreciative audience with its cast and ADHD approvable action, expect more of the same. “Runner” is met apart ways if the cricket is on and a close match or live is happenning something else. It's strengths are it's weaknesses. It rides the tropes to a good destination well, and although fun, it is not something groundbreaking and it's thrilling, but so much live sports can be. It does not dominate the viewing if there is something of great importance and more genuinely exciting in the world happening.