Summary
- The Road House remake was successful, but its CGI fight scenes divided audiences and need to be fixed for the sequel.
- Some of Road House’s CGI made the movie’s fight scenes feel too fake, but there were also several examples of it being used well.
- Road House 2 can improve its CGI by using it more wisely, which could enhance the visual effects in fight scenes.
Jake Gyllenhaal’s Road House remake was a huge success, but it also divided some audiences with one of its choices, and the sequel will have to fix it. The Road House remake had the best Rotten Tomatoes score in the entire franchise, and Road House shattered Amazon Prime Video streaming records when it released in March. It was a massive success in several different categories, but Road House also had its fair share of controversies and divisiveness. Some of those problems have already been resolved, but there’s one major issue Road House 2 still has to solve.
Throughout its production, Road House had several controversies. There was the age gap between Gyllenhaal and Daniela Melchior, whose characters had a romantic subplot in the movie. There was also two big controversies about Road House‘s release, as director Doug Liman wanted a theatrical release, but the movie only debuted on streaming, and a screenwriter from the original Road House sued MGM. Those controversies have mostly been settled, but there’s still one issue the franchise will have to fix before Road House 2 if it wants to succeed.
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Road House’s Divisive CGI Fight Scenes Explained
Many of Road House‘s controversies came from outside drama, but there was one problem in the movie itself. Road House used CGI for some of its fight scenes, and some viewers took exception to that. The CGI, at times, was very noticeable in Road House, and it gave some of the fight scenes that used it a fake-looking quality. The CGI was even criticized by Scott Adkins, an actor with a major fight scene in John Wick: Chapter 4. He pointed out that other films have used CGI to enhance fights in the past, and they did it more subtly than Road House did.
Despite the criticisms Road House‘s CGI received, it also earned some celebration. VFX experts praised Road House‘s CGI, and noted how difficult it would be to pull off some of the visual effects the movie uses. There are definitely moments where blows hit harder and had more impact, and those moments highlighted how good the CGI could have been. There are, however, several moments, like the fight scene on Brandt’s boat, where the fight scenes look more like superhero movies. Those poorer examples took a lot of Road House‘s realism, and its suspense, out of some critical moments.
How Road House 2 Can Fix Its CGI Fight Scene Problem
Road House‘s CGI was a fairly large criticism of the movie, and Road House 2 will have to fix the first film’s mistakes to avoid creating another, even bigger, controversy. It’s fairly likely that the Road House sequel will continue to use CGI – the franchise already used it once, and there’s a lot of potential for it. Hopefully, the lessons needed to fix the first movie’s mistakes have been learned. If they have, there are a few very simple ways Road House could improve its CGI.
Both the VFX artists and their equipment will have quite a bit of time to improve, and the controversy it’s already caused will likely lead Road House 2‘s director to use the CGI more sparingly. If it is used in a wiser and more controlled way, the best parts of Road House‘s CGI could really shine. The fact is, Road House 2 could benefit greatly from having enhanced visual effects in its fights, but it has to put in the work to make those effects better than the ones in the first Road House remake.
Road House (2024)
Road House is a remake of the original 1989 film, which followed protagonist Dalton, a Ph.D. educated bouncer at the roughest bar in the south known as the Double Deuce. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Dalton, with two major changes including Dalton being a retired UFC fighter and the bar locale being in the Florida Keys.
- Director
- Doug Liman
- Release Date
- March 21, 2024
- Studio(s)
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , Silver Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Prime Video
- Writers
- Anthony Bagarozzi , Charles Mondry , David Lee Henry
- Cast
- Jake Gyllenhaal , Daniela Melchior , Billy Magnussen , Jessica Williams , Joaquim De Almeida , Conor McGregor , Lukas Gage , Arturo Castro , B.K. Cannon , Beau Knapp , Darren Barnet , Dominique Columbus , Bob Menery
