Road House’s main merits include witty humour that’s true to the original and Conor McGregor’s high-energy acting. Yet the film is cheapened by obvious CGI, flat characters and themes, and no unique edge to give it the original’s cult status.
The Good
- Witty humour
- Conor McGregor
The Bad
- Flat characters
- Bad CGI
The 2024 reboot of Road House has divided viewers with its casting choices, deadpan humour, and use of CGI in action scenes.
Do Jake Gyllenhaal and Conor McGregor pull their weight? Is the film funny and original enough? How effective, or distracting, is the CGI?
Based on the 1989 movie of the same name, Road House tells the tale of Elwood Dalton, an ex UFC fighter hired to de-escalate brawls in a volatile small-town bar.
Dalton’s arrival in the town immediately provokes the wrath of local bad guys—including the kingpin Brandt, his henchmen, and the freewheeling psycho Knox.
The story centres around the men’s battles for power in the town, and through fight after fight we’re made to question whether Dalton will be allowed to stay or even survive…
With its casting of the UFC boxer Conor McGregor and its use of Grand Theft Auto-style body movements and camera angles, Road House targets its core audience well.
Jake Gyllenhaal gives a decent performance as Dalton, mastering sarcastic one-liners that hark back to the wittiness of the original 1989 film.
Conor McGregor also gives a commendable debut as Knox, acting with a convincing, unhinged furore that blurs the line between film acting and his real-life UFC persona.
Stand-out comedy scenes of the movie include Brandt being shaved (and repeatedly cut) on a turbulent boat, a thug being eaten by the local crocodile, and the bar’s live acts continuing to sing and dance as deadly brawls erupt before them.
The film also has a darker tone in places, which adds much-needed depth. The scene where Dalton says “I’m afraid of what happens when somebody pushes me too far” is uniquely chilling.
Yet this Road House remake isn’t perfect. The use of CGI is obvious and cheapens several fight scenes, secondary characters are one-dimensional and underdeveloped, and the movie arguably over-relies on Conor McGregor (and a cameo from Post Malone) to cinch its originality.
Remove Conor McGregor and Post Malone and you’d have a fairly average action flick that doesn’t stand out in the genre. To stand the test of time, Road House would need edgier comedy, better-crafted fight scenes, and a social message deeper than Dalton fearing his inner rage.
That being said, the new Road House movie still makes for an entertaining watch, and it will likely appeal the most to those viewers who didn’t grow up with cult classics and who haven’t seen the original film.
Although several iconic elements of Road House (1989) are missing—such as the stuffed polar bear and Dalton doing tai chi—it’s arguably best that this is so. Road House (2024) tells a new story in a new way, and while far from revolutionary, it’s a decently entertaining one-time see.