Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson race across Brisbane in the new movie, Runner.

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Owen Wilson and Alan Ritchson star in Scott Waugh’s Runner. | Image courtesy of VVS Films

Alan Ritchson (Reacher) and Owen Wilson (Zoolander, Marley & Me, Loki – honestly, the list goes on) star in Runner, an action-packed buddy movie set across Brisbane and the Gold Coast, directed by Scott Waugh (Need for Speed, Expend4bles).

Former soldier Hank Malone (Alan Ritchson) works as a high-end courier in Brisbane, taking on deliveries that are apparently too sensitive, valuable, or dangerous for your average delivery service. He is given three hours to transport a critical organ to a dying little girl waiting for an immediate transplant. The seemingly straightforward job becomes considerably less straightforward when Malone is paired with medical courier Ben Bishop (Owen Wilson) and a ruthless cartel comes after them and their precious cargo.

And, naturally, this means there is only one reasonable solution: drive very, very fast.

Runner is essentially a 98-minute race across Queensland, packed with car chases, gunfire, fist fights and the kind of increasingly ridiculous situations that only seem to happen in action movies. The film's official synopsis promises a “race against time”, and it really does commit to that premise.

The movie started with your quintessential description of the word ‘runner’, represented onscreen by the Century Gothic typeface. As someone who works in design, I immediately noticed the typography – because apparently I cannot simply watch a movie without looking at the type.

But what I noticed even more was Brisbane.

Runner is one of those unusual Hollywood-style action movies where Brisbane isn't simply standing in for some other city. The production was actually filmed in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Screen Queensland also confirmed that the production was specifically secured for Queensland through the state's Production Attraction Strategy. And boy, does the movie want you to know it.

There are iconic Brisbane cityscapes, aerial views of the Brisbane River, plenty of CBD streets, a car chase around the Story Bridge and a healthy tinge of the Gold Coast. The aerial Brisbane shots even paved the way for an iconic Owen Wilson “woooow” moment, as he appreciates the Brisbane River, or as locals would call it, the ‘brown snake’.

It feels a little bit funny in the tummy to see a car chase scene around Eagle Street that probably went on for five minutes, knowing that it probably would have taken longer to actually go around the street and back. As someone from Brisbane, though, I can't really complain.

Alan Ritchson as Hank Malone in Scott Waugh’s Runner. | Image courtesy of VVS Films

It is genuinely unusual to see Brisbane presented as the setting for an American-led action movie, and I don't think that's a bad thing at all. Brisbane is beautiful and deserves the same cinematic attention that Sydney and Melbourne seem to receive by default. Runner gives the city plenty of screen time, and while there were moments when it felt like I was watching a very expensive tourism advertisement for Queensland, I can't even be mad about it. With the 2032 Olympics coming up, someone has to tell the rest of the world where Brisbane is.

Title cards that reminded me of Bondi Rescue also appeared every now and then. I could see what they were trying to do. They provided a visual connection to the movie's opening title treatment and helped break up the action, but I found them a little unnecessary. They felt like a creative idea that belonged to a slightly different movie and didn't quite match the rest of the film.

Thankfully, the actual heart of Runner comes from its two leads. Ritchson and Wilson have surprisingly good chemistry. Ritchson does the heavy lifting as the brooding action hero, while Wilson brings his familiar deadpan energy to Ben Bishop. Owen Wilson is basically playing “Owen Wilson playing a medical courier”, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it provides most of the movie's comedic relief.

There is something quite enjoyable about watching these two very different personalities get thrown into an increasingly absurd situation and simply having to keep going.

The movie also makes good use of its Queensland setting beyond simply showing off the scenery. The production was reported to have employed almost 90 local cast and crew members and was expected to generate around $20 million for the local economy. The filmmakers also worked with Queensland's locations and atmosphere as part of the film's identity, rather than treating the state purely as a convenient backdrop.

Alan Ritchson as Hank Malone and Owen Wilson as Ben Bishop in Scott Waugh’s Runner. | Image courtesy of VVS Films

And it was definitely great to see some of Australia's own talent get their moments throughout the movie. With an ensemble that includes Australian actors such as Leila George, Kate Box, Peta Sergeant and Geraldine Hakewill, Runner feels a little more locally grounded than your average American action movie simply dropped into Australia.

Is Runner going to reinvent the action genre? Absolutely not. Does it sometimes feel like a collection of action-movie clichés held together by a liver and a very tight deadline? A little bit. But that's also part of its charm.

The film knows what it is: a straightforward action movie with a buddy-comedy setup, some heartfelt drama, plenty of ridiculous action and just enough self-awareness to keep things moving. At 98 minutes, it doesn't overstay its welcome, either.

All in all, Runner wasn't that bad. It was all the right amounts of action, comedy, heartfelt drama and tolerable cringe. And for me, the biggest novelty was seeing Brisbane turned into the backdrop of a full-blown international action movie, even if half the time I was distracted by thinking, “They definitely don't drive like that around here.”

Runner is now showing in cinemas worldwide.

My rating: 2.5/5

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