Runner - Enjoyable Action Comedy Movie with Unexpectedly Violent and Entertaining Action Sequence

After a very busy week where I did not really have the chance to see any movies, yesterday my wife and I finally got time to go to the cinema, albeit just to see 1 film as we had other things to do in the evening. While searching for the movies, we decided to see this one which I had been eyeing ever since it was released more than two weeks ago. Lucky for us it was still playing in several studios and there was one where it was convenient and in line with our plan. Without further ado, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Hank Malone (Alan Ritchson - Motor City, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare etc) was a former US military personnel who was living in Brisbane Australia as a "runner", someone who transport items. When he got a new assignment from his handler Iggy (Gyton Grantley - House Husbands TV series etc) to deliver time sensitive medical package brought by Ben Bishop (Owen Wilson - Haunted Mansion, Bliss etc), Hank was not keen at first but he still decided to do it.

Unfortunately some mysterious dangerous people led by the vicious Damian (Rodrigo Santoro - Project Power, 300 etc) were planning to take away the package. Hank and Ben had no choice but to run from their pursuit while trying to still deliver to the actual recepient, the sick daughter of Kate (Leila George - Disclaimer mini series, The Kid etc) before time run out.

So what would happen to Hank and Ben? You could find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

I am really glad that we still got the chance to see this film in the cinema cause it was fun and entertaining. To be honest I thought this would be a simple action comedy film where we just laugh aloud and enjoy the action. Apparently though, the action was completely different from our expectation in a great way cause it was swift and violent with lots of killings involved. No wonder in the beginning the Indonesian censorship body categorized it as 17+, although it was still PG-13 in the US.

Anyway, we really liked the action sequence where Hank used all his experience and expertise to go on a run from the multiple bad guys through car chase and the awesome fights. They were quite expertly done obviously supported by the capability of Alan Ritchson as the lead guy. And we also liked his chemistry with Owen Wilson who even after all these years could still provide his usual charm and continuous talking. But none of this would have been great without the cool directing from Scott Waugh who used to be stunt director and directed several action films like Expendables 4, Need for Speed etc. The movie itself was based on 2023  "Black List" script written by Miles Hubley and Tommy White (you could check on my previous posts on what this was). 

What we liked about this movie was that it dare to defy the standard in action comedy with a more dangerous stuff and even had a rather unexpected dark turn of event. Obviously the crazy stunts and violent fights were something we loved here. I also found that it was positively received by critics and audience though sadly it did not really translate to huge Box Office performance. As at now it only recovered less than half its original budget which was surprising as I thought it would not require such big amount to produce. I believe it would be better received once it is available via streaming. This should not mean that Ritchson is not suitable as lead star as I think he just need one major commercially successful film to prove he can become the bankable action star.

Aside from the names above, the film also had few support cast like Kate Box (Deadloch TV series, Jimpa etc) as Dr. Ainsley who treat Kate's daughter, Geraldine Hakewill (Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries TV series etc) as Hank's ex wife Monica and Thomas Cocquerel (All Her Fault mini series, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions etc) as her new husband Josh, Peta Sergeant (Supergirl season 6, Infidel etc) as Nurse Julie and several others. I think they were mostly Australian which should not come as a surprise considering it was produced there. Btw seeing the beautiful Brisbane which my wife and I had never been to made us interested to visit. Oh this movie had a rather short duration of 98 minutes including closing credits but no mid or post end credit scenes.

Overall this was something that I thought was better than imagined. Although there were some humor arising from the dialogues by Owen Wilson and the nice chemistry with his on screen partner Alan Ritchson, but the action was way more violent than the standard action comedy. I also thought the villain was perfectly played by Rodrigo Santoro who was convincing as a ruthless man and surprisingly seemed on par with Ritchson. The story was pretty simple and not going to win any awards but it was sufficient to provide the necessary background. We also liked the ending with a bit of touching moment which affected my wife, that was again a rare quality for the usually light action comedy genre. So if you are not sure what to see in the cinemas, I think this should be one that you can opt for a good time before it is completely gone from the cinemas. 

Happy watching!

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars