Road House

Remakes of old films are all too often disappointing since they just try to rehash what made the first film work. That's not what this film is. There are some similarities (a tough guy saving a roadhouse from a greedy rich guy) but it's different film with different themes and a different atmosphere and Jake Gyllenhaal is stellar in the role of Dalton, a kind, brooding guy who has a lethal aspect which scares him.

Right now, this film has a 6.2 on IMDb, which I think under rates it. If you look at this without the lens of the original Roadhouse, it stands well enough on its own to be worth more than that.

Ok fact: remakes suck.

Going into this, I wanted to hate it. Remake of an 80's classic and Jake G? Recipe for disaster. But..... this is a remake in name only. Fresh story, the only connection to the original is he's a bouncer for hire. I'll admit it, this stands up on its own.

For lack of anything better to watch I gave this a shot. Color me surprised but I enjoyed the heck out of it. No agenda, just an old school action movie. Now the AI/CGI was nothing short of terrible, but if you look past that this movie embodies the old school Western movies it clearly mimics (and references several times, a bit on the nose).

Was I entertained? Yup. Was it Oscar worthy? No, but I'll take entertaining over Oscar Worthy every time.

Give it a shot, you may just enjoy yourself.

Apparently the reviews are getting swarmed by boomers that didn't get their cream of wheat this morning. Do remakes suck? Usually. But this is a solid action flick that doesn't hide what it is: a slapstick action flick packed with ridiculous amounts of alpha Chad characters and protagonist plot armor. It's laid on pretty thick throughout the film that it's meant to be a goofy punchfest of senseless violence and overly eccentric characters.

Even if you haven't seen the original, this film still stand out on its own as a movie that's just fun to watch and at no point takes itself seriously. If you're looking for a deep and thought provoking storyline, then this might not for you. But if you enjoy the adrenaline junkie style akin to John Wick or just about anything Jason Statham, then it's highly recommended.

The most impressive thing that stands out in this film is Jake G's commendable dedication to getting in shape for this role. Jake went through intense amounts of training and discipline to acquire an absolutely shredded physique for this role. The fact that he achieved this while in his 40s is an inspiration to anyone who is trying to get in shape. It's on par with Hugh Jackman's preparation for Wolverine.

Now for the bad stuff. The fight scenes are heavily reliant on CGI body doubles and shaky camera effects that stick out like a sore thumb in several scenes. If they had spent a little more time in perfecting these effects, it may have worked out as more believable. Jake's character also has superhero levels of plot armor that can induce a bit of eyerolling from anyone expecting realism out of the story. Plenty of scenes where he survives moments that would easily kill an ordinary man (i.e. Disarming several men with guns without getting blasted).

You're also not likely to enjoy the ending, as it was pretty intentionally peppered with plot holes in order to allow a potential sequel. This also may come as a shock to some of you, but Connor McGregor is (gasp) not a professionally trained actor. He was hired to play the crazy goon that he is in real life and it worked well for the film, in my opinion. Is it still worth watching? Absolutely.

I like the original where Patrick plays good and I'm a bit reluctant to look at makeovers. But this film surprised me after all. Well prepared and nice performance. Well played, Not bad at all.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a former UFC fighter who becomes a bouncer at a tough bar in Florida. He tries to save the town from a bad guy who is causing trouble. The movie is exciting and has action, drama, and a little bit of romance although not as steamy as the original.

It's about fighting for what's right and changing for the better.

We know the end of the original where the bouncer moves on, here it's the same.

I wasn't really interested in watching this reboot. Seriously, it wasn't going to stand up to the original. There was no way at all! Finally, after prodding and poking I caved and discovered it that it didn't need to.

The characters were strong, and the plot different enough to make me feel like I was still being faithful to the original version.

Well worth the watching! With perfect casting and great site choices, it was a believable film. I will be waiting for a part II and hoping that Elwood Dalton will continue being an underestimated good guy!

Thank you to Gyllenhal for paying such wonderful respect to a great man with one of his tattoos.