its very different compared to the book. the hero isnt some musclebound soldier. just a regular dude trying to feed his family and get medication for his sick daughter. his wife is turning tricks for food money and the child is getting sicker because the medicine they can afford is bullshit. so Ben Richards decides to risk his life by applying to the Games network for one of their reality gameshows which will give him money for some dangerous stunts where he will probably die. but at least his daughter and wife will have some money. he thinks he will get a crappy show, but gets their flagship program called The Running Man, where you get paid for every hour you survive.
instead of cartoonish villains, its a bunch of investigators tracking Richards down. its not set in a laser tag arena, you can hide anywhere in the US, but you have to mail in daily video tapes to be played on the TV show. the "hunters" use those postal codes to pinpoint where Richards is . it turns into this huge thing as Richards becomes more desperate and anxious because he's trying to contact his wife to see if she's receiving money and to check on his daughter. he cant get in touch with her.