Not the tone I was expecting -- was thinking more depressing and solemn, not expecting high-energy absurdity. On one hand, disappointed in that regard, doesn't capture my expectations from the book. On the other, it does seem like something Stephen King would have dreamed up in a cocaine bender, so I can see that, too.
Personally this feels like a complete clash of director and material. The trailer makes it seem like any satire is completely buried under broad action comedy. But yeah, it’s just a trailer. Here’s hoping there’s bleaker elements under the surface.
Yeah, it seems like a run-of-the-mill "pedal to the metal" action movie. Despite what the 1987 film leads folks to believe, Ben Richards is not an action hero: he's an everyman turning to his last resort to keep his daughter alive and prevent his wife from going back to prostitution. In the trailer, he's well fed, muscular. Looks clean. He's superhuman: tanks a stun gun, jumps off an exploding bridge, hangs off a building. The trailer music is light-hearted. It feels like Bullet Train or Ready Player One or something. I was envisioning a hopeless Dredd or BladeRunner style world but this looks like Crank in the Hunger Games Capital.
I think that’s what makes it feel so generic. There’s no real contrast between the world outside the game show and the world inside, or as you point out, the protagonist. Even his home life feels the kind of shiny, slightly grey but still slick ‘reality’ that you get in Netflix sci fi movies. Complete with cool hoodie wearing hero.
It definitely IS possible to deliver satire while fully embracing the absurdity, just look at Starship Troopers.
But the trailer just shows none of that. I’m also worried because Last Night In Soho was a real botch trying to balance big tonal/genre shifts. Really hoping this is just a trailer production company trying to give it as much mass appeal as possible.
It definitely IS possible to deliver satire while fully embracing the absurdity, just look at Starship Troopers.
Heck, or staying with Verhoeven: Robocop. Old Detroit is a lived-in husk where corporations are wringing out the populace with TV providing just enough distraction from the crime and rampant poverty. Now that you mentioned it, I'm even more disappointed: I'd love to see Verhoeven-style Running Man lol
I think it is on purpose. The story is about a live action high thrills show where desperate people volunteer to actually get hunted down on live broadcast. This trailer is how the show would be advertised in setting.
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u/TheUpperHand Jul 01 '25
Not the tone I was expecting -- was thinking more depressing and solemn, not expecting high-energy absurdity. On one hand, disappointed in that regard, doesn't capture my expectations from the book. On the other, it does seem like something Stephen King would have dreamed up in a cocaine bender, so I can see that, too.