by Nigel Hicks
Worth: $14.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Alan Ritchson, Owen Wilson, Rodrigo Santoro, Leila George
Intro:
… delivers plenty of well-choreographed gunfire and fighting, occasional humour, and a few priceless scenes …
Runner is an action-buddy film directed by Scott Waugh, starring Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson. Filmed mostly in Brisbane, the film follows Hank Malone (Ritchson) as he drives, punches, and shoots his way across the city. It is a perfectly adequate action movie, but feels rushed in production, highlighted by glaring continuity (and common sense) issues.
Malone is a former Navy SEAL now living as a black-market courier. He delivers things either too valuable or too illegal for regular transportation and has been entrusted with assisting medical courier Ben Bishop (Wilson) to move an organ transplant (from Honolulu) to a recipient at a Queensland hospital. A Colombian cartel member (Rodrigo Santoro) is also looking to hijack the very-rare organ and recruits local bikies for muscle.
For better or worse, Ritchson plays Ritchson (Reacher) and Wilson does Owen Wilson. The earnest Ritchson is built like a magnificent fridge but doesn’t always deliver his lines in a clear way, nor display much emotional depth. The support cast does a decent job, with Santoro (The Blue Trail) a menacing villain, who will stop at nothing and doesn’t stop shooting people (often for little reason). Australia’s own Leila George shines amongst this lot as the anxious mother of the organ recipient, with a diverse mix of believable handwringing and action scenes of her own.
Runner is competent enough. It delivers plenty of well-choreographed gunfire and fighting, occasional humour, and a few priceless scenes in amongst the Go Between Bridge sized leaps of logic.
