Jake Gyllenhaal's Road House remake packs big punches, even if they don't all land

There’s a moment in Prime Video’s new Road House adaptation where Dalton (Jake Gyllenhaal) is about to be pummeled by hired villain Knox (Conor McGregor) in the crumbling wreck of the titular bar. As the punch comes in, Dalton yells “be nice,” an homage to the original 1989 cult classic.

Throughout Doug Liman’s remake, there are small nods to Patrick Swayze’s Road House, but the 2024 version is certainly one that stands on its own. While it lacks the endearing ridiculousness that made the first one so re-watchable and quotable — “Pain don’t hurt!” — it’s still a high-octane and fun watch.

In this iteration, Dalton is a former UFC fighter with a past he wants to forget. He’s approached by Frankie (Jessica Williams, Shrinking) with an offer to come to the Florida Keys and try and keep the peace at her bar, the aptly named Road House.

Dalton trains up bouncer Billy (Lukas Gage) as he cleans up the Road House, but problems pop up when low-level muscle continues causing problems for the bar. The wonderful Billy Magnussen (Game Night) stars as Ben Brandt, the wonderfully decadent villain trying to put the bar out of business so he can build up the beach front, and he calls in Knox to make things happen.

The fight scenes are brutal and frankly impressive, and that’s due to stunt coordinator Garrett Warren and something he calls the Four Pass Method. McGregor explained in an interview with Jake Hamilton what goes into it. “It’s basically you punch one side of the face, you punch the other side, you punch in slow motion where you land and act it, and then you put a pad in front of the face,” McGregor said.

With all those angles of near miss punches and “connected” punches, the magic of movie-making puts them all together in a way that is very realistic.

Gyllenhaal is truly engaging in the role, and Magnussen plays the yacht-owning, linen-wearing Florida bad guy to perfection. It’s not a perfect movie, but it’s worth a watch.

Road House will be streaming on Prime Video starting March 21.

Movie: Road House
Release Date: March 21 (Prime Video)
Director: Doug Liman
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior, Jessica Williams, Billy Magnussen, Lukas Gage, Conor McGregor
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars