When you think of the movie “Road House,” the 1989 film would come to mind for most people; in 2024, however, Amazon Prime released their own version with Jake Gyllenhaal as the lead.
Gyllenhaal played Elwo od Dalton, better known as just Dalton. The 1989 version is a classic, with fight scenes and almost two hours of action. This year, the remake received not-so-great reviews, so I decided to watch the movie to form my own opinion.
I’m the sports editor at The Good Five Cent Cigar, as well as a fan of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, so a movie with the world famous Connor McGregor, a former UFC champion in the light and featherweight divisions, was bound to catch my eye. I had high hopes coming into the 2024 version of “Road House,” with a veteran actor in Gyllenhaal and McGregor making his acting debut in a role that seemed fit for a man who is both loved and hated worldwide. Instead I was disappointed, with some of the best parts of the movie being McGregor’s lines. Knox, McGregor’s character, uttered “It’s been awhile since I’ve gone clubbin,” with a driver in hand, a pun that gets a laugh. He also says “There he is, the world’s most notorious fighter: Dalton.” This line was a clear reference to McGregor’s nickname when inside the Octagon, “The Notorious.” The best written character turned out to be Knox, who was first seen on screen naked, a fitting entrance for the character. McGregor also played the character well, embracing the villain that he can be known to be. His authentic Irish accent also helped make him funnier, which serves as an added comedic relief. On the other hand, Dalton is written more boring. His backstory is pretty simple: a former UFC fighter that murdered another man in the Octagon who was once his friend. His lines didn’t have much substance to them, besides the classic “nobody ever wins a fight,” a famous line from the 1989 original.
Unfortunately for UFC fans like myself, the fight scenes were disappointing in this movie. The opening scene, which featured pop artist Post Malone, had terrible choreography that made it clear that Malone was not striking his opponent. It set the tone for the rest of the movie, one that was clearly not written to high enough standards and contained choreography that was subpar.
The camera work is also not to my liking; the shots can vary from a normal over-the-shoulder to a first-person shot through Dalton’s eyes. The first-person shots were weird to say the least, with most of them coming in fight scenes. They were unnecessary and were not something that were used to enhance what the viewer was seeing in the fight. Some shots in the water were also shot on a camera that seemed like a GoPro, which may be a choice to keep the viewer up close and personal, but it seemed low-budget. The effects and stunts were also both unrealistic, which was off putting throughout the movie. The effects were clearly that: effects, not practical stunts. Dalton was hit by a pickup truck flying at him in reverse, and instead of him being thrown backwards, he slid into the bed of the truck. The truck, as well as Dalton, were then sent falling off of a bridge in an effect that was clearly done in post-production, and not practical in the slightest. Most of the stunts were the same, clearly done with green screens and in post-production, which saddened me during viewing.
All in all, I was disappointed. I expected Gyllenhaal to be better in his role, whether that’s a fault of his own or poor writing. McGregor’s acting debut was fun, as he got to play a character that is similar to his real life self, with a more hitman style. I wish this movie was better from start to finish, but in the end it was just another action movie with minimal substance.