Highway to Meh-ROADHOUSE (2024)
By Danny Mendes, TheCinebuff.com
After nearly a decade in development, Doug Liman, director of The Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow, finally brings us the remake of the 1989 cult classic Road House. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Elwood Dalton, a former UFC fighter who receives a job proposition as a bouncer in a rowdy roadhouse in the Florida Keys. Soon enough, Dalton’s skills and propensity for violence garners the attention of some rowdy crews, and violence ensues. Most remakes buckle under the weight of their predecessors; it’s not easy to make a film that pays respect to the original while paving its own way. While the remake of Road House doesn’t quite live up to the outlandish antics of the original, it remains a fun watch.
What was once originally pitched as a Ronda Rousey feature, Road House thrives in large part due to Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance. It’s a welcome and darker take on the character Patrick Swayze originally portrayed. Gyllenhaal certainly has the physical build of a fighter, but the way he carries himself elevates the performance to being more than just a physical brute. Gyllenhaal’s character has Swayze’s confidence and charisma, but there’s also something feral beneath the surface. The performance works because Gyllenhaal takes it seriously and injects the character of Dalton with emotion and humanity.
Liman is no slouch when it comes to action; he practically ushered in a new era of action filmmaking with The Bourne Identity. While the action in Road House isn’t as imaginative as recent action movies of the last decade, it’s still satisfying to watch, particularly the ones between Gyllenhaal and McGregor. A lot of the fight sequences feature heavy integration of CGI usually to their detriment. Fists pound against CGI flesh resulting in a lack of any real impact. While Gyllenhaal and McGregor have two phenomenal fight sequences together, the CGI hides what is otherwise great fight choreography behind uncanny visuals.
The new Road House lacks the outlandish appeal of the original in large part due to its generic plotting and one-dimensional villains. Save for McGregor, who shows up near the second half of the film, anyone other than Gyllenhaal is largely forgettable. While McGregor isn’t a good actor, he does deliver in terms of pure physicality and athleticism. For fans of the original, this is another disposable remake. However, for the average action junkie looking for a breezy good time, this wouldn’t be the worst way to spend two hours.
Originally published at http://behindtherabbitproductions.wordpress.com on March 29, 2024.
