Gal Gadot's latest action thriller, The Runner, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, is a derivative and low-rent B-movie that fails to generate excitement, despite the scenic backdrop of London and a premise borrowed from better films. Directed by Oscar-winning documentarian Kevin Macdonald, the film attempts to place Gadot in a high-stakes, real-time scenario, but the result is a forgettable entry in the genre, hampered by a stiff lead performance and a script that offers little novelty.
A familiar premise with a modern twist
The film's plot is a reheated version of the classic "ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances" trope, reminiscent of Nick of Time, Red Eye, Eagle Eye, and more recent entries like Carry-On and Drop. Gadot plays Maia, a single mother and lawyer, who is forced into a deadly game when a nefarious "freelancer" working for a local crime boss, voiced by Damian Lewis, kidnaps her diabetic son and hacks his insulin dispenser. The son is plunged into a hypoglycemic coma, and Maia must murder a key witness she was supposed to represent in court to save him.
The film's slight novelty is that Maia must run five miles to the hotel where the witness is staying within an hour, with no interruptions allowed. The modern update is the use of AI as a weapon, a lazy crutch that screenwriters increasingly rely on. The premise, however, is executed in a hopelessly cut-and-paste manner, with predictable beats: a lead with relevant personal trauma, a sinister voice on the phone spouting clichés like "There's more blood in the human body than you can fathom!" and teary "I can't do this" moments that inevitably harden into a turn of the tables.
London locations can't save a lackluster execution
The film does feature real London locations, from Kentish Town to Somerset House, which serve as a scene-stealing co-star. However, Macdonald's direction, which aims for frenetic energy by hurtling the camera around the city, falls flat. The action is cheap and unexciting, and dated flourishes, such as a misjudged slow shutter speed effect, take viewers back to the 2000s rather than immersing them in the chaos of London. The more Macdonald tries to impose style, the worse the film looks, with Gadot's histrionics bordering on laughable.
Gadot's performance is athletically impressive—one believes she is actually running—but emotionally stiff. In a one-woman showcase with plentiful zoomed-in closeups, her inability to convey depth crushes a film already limping to the finish line. The best version of this movie would have the audience agonizing over her decisions and nervously watching the countdown clock, but Gadot fails to get viewers on side enough to care about what happens.
A generic script and inconsistent rules
Mark Gibson's script is far too plain, with inconsistent rules of the game and a generic hero-villain dynamic. Unlike Carry-On, which found a fun mix of boss/subordinate and dom/sub relationships to keep audiences involved, The Runner offers nothing to grab onto. An attempt at a smug switcheroo ending is too clunky to prove as clever as the filmmakers seem to think it is.
While intelligence might not be expected in B-movie territory, the lack of excitement is hard to forgive. The Runner is now available on Amazon Prime Video, but viewers seeking a thrilling ride would do better to revisit the films it imitates.
