The Runner is not winning over critics as it sprints onto Prime Video. The new action thriller starring Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot debuted to just 9% on Rotten Tomatoes, becoming the actor’s lowest-ranked movie.
Directed by Kevin Macdonald, the movie stars Gadot as an attorney who must race through London on the orders of a mysterious caller to save her abducted son. Damien Lewis also stars in the movie, which is now available to stream on Prime Video.
The Guardian gives it just two stars, adding: “Intelligence might not be what one would expect here, which is somewhat acceptable in B-movie territory such as this, but the lack of excitement is hard to forgive.”
“The Runner’s slick design and technical contributions do not transcend the outward packaging for a potboiler with scant substance beneath,” writes Variety’s Dennis Harvey as IGN’s Scott Collura calls it “a mid-tier movie drop” that is ultimately “unsatisfying”.
Meanwhile, Daniel Hart of Ready Steady Cut calls the film a “career low” for Gadot, writing that “The Runner is a flat, amateurish thriller that wastes a promising premise on cheap direction and zero suspense.”
Not all the reviews are bad. Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter argues: “Movies such as these are all about suspension of disbelief, and The Runner keeps a fast enough pace that we don’t wind up asking too many questions.”
On the press tour for the new film, Gadot has been making headlines about her Wonder Woman exit. The star, who played the superhero in the DCEU, says she wasn’t told the full picture by James Gunn and Peter Safran when they took over as DC Studios CEOs.
However, as a new Wonder Woman is rumored to debut in Man of Tomorrow, she’s sending her best wishes to her replacement.
The Runner is available to stream on Prime Video now. For more, check out our guides to the best Amazon movies of all time.