I am truly hoping Edgar Wright delivers the goods with “The Running Man,” which comes at probably the most important moment in Wright’s career.
You see, Wright is coming off the biggest failure of his career, “Last Night in Soho,” which wasn’t necessarily a bad movie (great first half, tepid second), but it did garner the most divisive reviews of his career and only earned $23M worldwide against a $43M budget.
Despite that, Paramount decided it was a good idea to let Wright make the biggest and most expensive film of his career — a make-or-break moment for him, as “Running Man” cost $110M to produce, according to the trades. Will it be a hit? That might depend on how well it’s received.
“Running Man” has been screening in London, Paris, and Los Angeles — I’m not supposed to see it until next Tuesday. Of course, most of the reactions are positive, from the usual suspects, because why would you sacrifice your first-look privileges by writing a negative tweet about the film?
I’m not saying there isn’t genuine love for this film, but as with all social media takes, we should take these with a large grain of salt.
I find Wright to be an incredibly talented visual filmmaker, but he also has this annoying penchant for infantilism and silliness. There’s a film-geek sensibility to his work that can sometimes rub one the wrong way.
With that said, his best film is practically a tie for me between “Baby Driver,” with its wonderful use of practical effects and rhythm-driven editing, and “Hot Fuzz,” a sharp action-comedy that’s part parody, part buddy-cop homage, and entirely unique. Both showcased a filmmaker in complete control of tone, timing, and sheer cinematic fun.
So yes, Wright still has his ardent fans who will go see whatever he does next; he’s built up this base of support with such films as “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” “Shaun of the Dead,” and “The World’s End.” However, “The Running Man” is the big test — a make-or-break moment that will truly reveal if Wright has the goods to lure a wide enough audience to watch a high-budget movie.
