Prime Video just can’t stop adding new movies that will make you want to cancel your plans and stay inside for the weekend.
Throughout April, the streamer is debuting big studio films like The Running Man, the 2025 remake starring Glen Powell as a man desperate to save his daughter.
If you prefer your chase films more comical, try Hot Pursuit, a buddy comedy starring Reese Witherspoon and Sofía Vergara.
Fans of underrated ‘90s action flicks should stream Mercury Rising, a forgotten Bruce Willis vehicle that features Alec Baldwin as a silver-tongued baddie.
‘The Running Man’ (2025)
In the near future, the income gap has widened, leaving the poor struggling to survive and the rich controlling pretty much every aspect of life. In this bleak environment, working-class Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is only concerned with one thing — earning enough money to buy medicine for his ill daughter. With wages low and work scarce, he takes part in The Running Man, a deadly televised competition show with a $1 billion grand prize. Even though no one has beaten it, Ben is determined to outwit and outrun his opponents to save his daughter’s life and maybe provide hope for a civilization in need of something — and someone — to champion.
A box office dud when it was released late last year, Edgar Wright’s remake of The Running Man deserves better. It’s a vivid depiction of a dystopian society that isn’t too far off from our own, and Powell is a great “average guy” hero who looks like a movie star. The film boasts a colorful supporting cast that includes a scenery-chewing Colman Domingo as the game show’s huckster host and Michael Cera as a reluctant revolutionary. (Yes, really.) The Running Man is an entertaining action flick that’s sure to gain cult movie status soon, when its fictional portrayal of a collapsing capitalist society becomes our reality.
The Running Man is streaming on Prime Video.
‘Hot Pursuit’ (2015)
Rose Cooper (Witherspoon) is a San Antonio police officer who is so good at her job that she’s practically alienated everyone at her station. When she finds herself unexpectedly protecting Daniella Riva (Sofía Vergara), the wife of a murdered man who was going to testify against a ruthless Mexican cartel boss, she sees an opportunity to prove to everyone that her way of no-nonsense policing works. But as she gets to know Daniella, she realizes her rigid work ethic isn’t helping her self-esteem. Rose just wants to be happy, and Daniella might be her ticket to changing her life.
Hot Pursuit is a by-the-numbers action comedy that’s buoyed by its two leads. No one plays a tight ass quite as hilariously as Witherspoon, while any Modern Family fan will tell you that Vergara is one of comedy’s best-kept secrets. She’s a pistol, especially when she’s evading them in haute couture and not-so-sensible shoes. Together, they form a comedy duo that shouldn’t work but does through the sheer charm of their personalities. You don’t need to race to watch Hot Pursuit, but it’s still a ride worth taking.
Hot Pursuit is streaming on Prime Video.
‘Mercury Rising’ (1998)
When autistic nine-year-old Simon (Miko Hughes) solves an almost impossible puzzle that conceals a hidden phone number, he decides to call it to see who is on the other line. Big mistake. The call’s recipient, Nick Kudrow (Alec Baldwin), works for the National Security Agency, and he doesn’t want anyone to know his code’s been cracked. He has no choice but to kill the boy, but he’ll have to get through Simon’s self-appointed guardian — hardened FBI agent Art Jeffries (Bruce Willis). Both men never lose, so how will this deadly game of cat and mouse end?
Mercury Rising is an above-average action thriller that isn’t as good as Die Hard, but far better than 1997’s The Jackal, which also starred Willis. The adult man/little child angle makes the movie stand out, with Art’s machismo tempered by Simon’s innocence. Baldwin is particularly effective as a villain who won’t think twice to kill a little kid to protect his job.
Mercury Rising is streaming on Prime Video.
