Elliot is too experienced to play bouncer roles, but his presence would not have improved upon this overly CG offer. Director Doug Liman puts his cast through their paces and even manages to get an over-enthusiastic Conor McGregor to impress in his “introducing” role in Road House Afdah. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the Swayze part; Dalton, and James one each. An insanely ripped fighter who relies on his rep to score easy wins in the bare-knuckle world of cage fighting. Even the protagonist’s name, Dalton, is evocative of the old West. I said above that I was game once I watched the trailer of this movie as I thought it would be filled with lots of hand-to-hand fights since the lead character was a former UFC fighter. And it was not disappointing as there were plenty of fistfights that were satisfying. If I had not known any better, I would have thought that Jake Gyllenhaal was a real professional fighter with amazing martial arts skills. Especially during his fights with Connor McGregor and other people. Most likely because, even if it had been shown in Indonesian theaters at the time, it was probably not a huge production. Anyway, the original received harsh criticism and was put forward for multiple Golden Raspberry awards, including Worst Actor and Worst Movie. That did, however, turn into a cult classic, and the remake seemed mostly motivated by the audience's apparent enjoyment of it. This time around, critics did not appear to be as irritated by the film; in fact, some praised Gyllenhaal's performance while criticizing the excessive use of computer graphics. Considering how well Gyllenhaal seemed to match the part, I was fairly in agreement. In addition to his impressive fighting skills, he had excellent characterization, particularly with regard to his angry facial expressions.
