Inferior to the Original But Still Fun
Summary
If the Road House remake encourages people to go back and watch the original movie then that’s frankly the best thing to come out of it. Jake is fine but lacks Swayze’s charisma and the lead villain is bland. The film is really only elevated by Connor’s hilarious scenery chewing. He isn’t even intimidating, just funny. The final fight is fun even but there isn’t anything to really justify why this was made. I think if wasn’t called Road House there would be more good will towards it, but even then it’s not amazing, just diverting.
Plot: Ex-UFC fighter Dalton takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, only to discover that this paradise is not all it seems.
Review: I think many of us had no intention of giving this movie a chance because quite simply Road House is an 80’s classic that should just be left alone. Hollywood needs to let go of the whole member berries concept and realise that what worked in the 80’s doesn’t work now for “modern audiences” … whatever that means.
I did try to go into this remake with an open mind and I’ll admit it was a fun time, but as good as Jake Gyllenhaal was as Dalton he’ll never match Swayze. There’s no real character development and most of the rest of the cast are forgettable with only Connor McGregor stealing the show with his crazy antics. He’s the best thing about the movie and his final showdown with Dalton is the highlight of the film.
The fights in this are a mixed bag; there are some cool moments but then there’s some distracting CG. Why is there CG in a movie set in the real world?
The film just lacks the personality and neon filled greatness of the original but also the villain Brandt should be renamed Bland as he makes little impact. Brad Wesley in the original was intimidating as fuck and all his thugs felt genuinely nasty, whereas this feels almost like a parody at times with a little too much goofy humour. It also didn’t need to be 2 hours long; you could have cut a few scenes to get it down to an hour and 40 minutes just for pacing.
Despite all the flaws Road House is an entertaining enough romp that is diverting for a Saturday night over a few beers… or you could just watch the original which is still awesome.
I know director Doug Liman wanted this to get a theatrical release but I understand why it didn’t as it looks and feels like a made for streaming movie. If they did a double bill with this and the original movie, I would have been down for that.
Overall, Road House will be forgotten in a matter of weeks for most viewers as the target audience for this grew up with the superior original. This isn’t appalling and is elevated by Connor McGregor’s sheer over the top antics and a couple of decent action beats, but I’d suggest just watching the original instead.