Before the premiere, the film could not boast such positive forecasts in terms of public interest, so let’s see how its authors managed to hook the public.
The film is a remake of the 1989 action film of the same name starring Patrick Swayze. A nondescript film not only in the filmography of the now deceased actor, but also in general for the VHS era with all its obligatory attributes: ridiculous pants by modern standards and ridiculous hairstyles. It paid off at the box office, took four Golden Raspberries and quietly sank into oblivion.
Taking such an acceptable work out of the bin to re-film it? Another clear demonstration of the crisis of fresh ideas in the Western entertainment industry.
The first rumors of a reboot appeared back in 2015, with Ronda Rousey’s participation announced.
Then production was reduced and resumed again with a new team: they called the famous director Doug Liman, invited Jake Gyllenhaal to play the main role and, to increase the degree of hype to the maximum, announced the debut of Conor McGregor. .
It was at this stage that it became interesting.
It was decided not to radically change the story. The main character, a former mixed martial arts fighter, is hired as a bouncer at a provincial pub near the highway on the sea coast. As in an old Russian meme, using only “breams of death,” he calms down the local ruffian who bothers visitors, but becomes embroiled in criminal disputes between much more influential gentlemen.
Therefore, local bar fights quickly turn into a full-scale war with bandits using weapons and explosives, and periodically even lead to a certain “Michaelbayism.”
The weakest point of the film is the script. Still, it was extremely difficult to build at least some intelligible story from the original, but it is clear that the authors tried.
At least the characters turned out to be a bit like real people, and not like in the source material, where all the characters were completely clichés.
It is worth noting the merits of the cast in creating a more realistic atmosphere. Gyllenhaal perfectly portrayed a world-weary man in a mid-life crisis, Daniela Melchior plays the perhaps evanescent role of a damsel in distress well.
Photo: kinorium.com
Even actors who did not stand out among their more famous colleagues were invited to play supporting roles. For example, the talented Latin American comedian Arturo Castro and the rapper Post Malone.
Of course, we can’t help but talk separately about the old McGregor.
Its hero first appears on camera sometime halfway through the runtime and immediately shakes up the entire action with his presence. He is given very little text, he speaks mainly in one-liners, but plays very lively with his face and plastically expressive, so to speak, with his body.
It seems that the former UFC champion behaves on the screen as he always wanted to act in real life, if he were not limited, for example, by the framework of criminal law.
Even during his professional performances, it was obvious that Conor was as much a showman as he was an athlete. Finally, his artistic talents found direct use.
Here he also acts as the final boss during the fight with Metallica’s upbeat soundtrack. What is striking is that in this fight the athlete evidently did not allow himself to be strangled. Apparently, he received psychological trauma that required overcompensation.
Photo: kinorium.com
The action itself, unfortunately, can hardly be called exciting. Some parts, in some places even the fights themselves, for some reason were completed using computer graphics. There is no ingenuity in the staging of the fights, and Conor, who has gained mass, moves even slower in the frame than in his best years in the octagon. In a world where “John Wick” and his “followers” exist, such an implementation seems like a fading shadow.
The original “Road House” has aged extremely poorly; now you can hardly see it without suffering serious attacks of shame. Most likely, the remake will suffer exactly the same fate: it is definitely not a film for all ages, nor another milestone in the genre, etc. But at the same time, the moment has a certain charm, the merit of which lies in the charismatic performers. There are some subtle vibes in the film from another, much more high-brow work by Patrick Swayze: 1991’s “Point Break.” Maybe, of course, it’s all just a matter of the seashore setting.
In the end, it is difficult to recommend whether or not anyone should watch the current “Road House.” This is such an exemplary product that “contains a movie”: it seems that it does not contain super-critical errors, there are several successful decisions and performances of individuals, but in general, after watching it, there are almost no emotions left.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
