Road House 2: Last Call

The original "Roadhouse" ranked as an invigorating, hard-knuckled, bruiser of a B-picture that benefited tremendously from good performances by Patrick Swayze, Ben Gazzara, and Sam Elliot, along with several tough-as-nails fights, and red-hot babe chicks with bosomy charms. Of course, the in-name sequel only "Roadhouse 2: Last Call" emerges as just another cash-in quickly follow-up film that has little to do with the original, but it isn't as tame or lame as the usual straight-to-video sequel. In other words, "Roadhouse 2" ain't half-bad, even if it is strictly formula without anything substantial to set it apart from the hundreds of other knuckle-busting, testosterone thrillers.

Nate Tanner (Will Patton of "The Rapture")owns a popular nightclub in the sticks called the Black Pelican, and he has a hard time with the local narcotics smuggler, Will Bill (Jake Busey of "Starship Troopers"), who wants the Pelican owing to its'"location, location, location" promixity to his drug smuggling operation. When Nate refuses to sell out, Will Bill sends his muscle men out to change his mind. They don't succeed it changing Nate's mind. However, they beat him up sufficiently to put him in the hospital. Naturally, the local constabulary complains that they are too undermanned to handle the investigation. Actually, they're on the villain's payroll. Meanwhile, troubleshooting DEA agent Shane Tanner (Johnathon Schaech of "Hush" and "The Doom Generation") is having his own problems. He cannot make the big bust that his superiors expect him to make. When he learns that his uncle is in the hospital, Shane takes time off to visit him down in Louisiana. On the way to his uncle's bar, he happens upon a hopelessly pretty blonde, Beau (newcomer Ellen Hollman) changing a flat tire on her jeep and gives her a hand. Later, we discover that not only is Beau an elementary school teacher, but she also can kick, punch, stab, and shoot with the best of them. According to Beau, she acquired these implausible skills during her stay in the Army that helped her afford her college education. When he arrives at the Black Pelican, Shane discovers that the local drug dealers are selling product on his premises, and he gives them the boot. Reprisals are swift and sure, but Shane handles them without difficulty. He calls in help from his DEA buddies and sets up a meeting with Wild Bill and nearly busts Bill after a bullet-blasting gun battle at his bar. Jurisdictional boundaries are infringed upon by the government guys, and so the DEA have to back and let the local authorities handle the situation. Meantime, Nate recovers from his wounds while Beau and Shane take a shine to each other. In the background, Wild Bill's boss Victor Cross (Australian kickboxing sensation Richard Norton) steps in to see if he can't resolve of Wild Bill's predicament with Shane. It seems that Shane and Victor had a little run-in when Shane was a rookie Louisiana State Trooper. Evidently, our hero busted Victor for pot and coke. Since then Victor has migrated to Miami and has the world by the tail as a big-time drug smuggler. As it turns out, we learn late in the fourth quarter that Victor smoked Shane's father by accident because dad was driving Shane's car. Precisely speaking, Victor ordered nasty old Will Bill to pull the trigger. This comes out during a confessional moment between the two adversaries.

"Roadhouse 2: Last Call" isn't a classic, but it does pack a solid punch or two. In other words, it stacks up better than the usual direct-to-video nonsense. Of course, it shouldn't have been made in the first place, but it's not a complete waste of time. Director Scott Ziehl keeps things popping throughout this 86 minute potboiler and he never wears out his welcome. Indestructible Will Patton appears to be playing the sort-of-Sam Elliot role. The fights are better-than-average, too, and the women are easy on the eye.

Patrick Swayze built his movie reputation on sexy good looks and hard-fisted action. The best example was the popular "Road House," where Swayze flexed his muscles as a bouncer in a backwoods bar, putting the bad guys on the floor -- some of them permanently. Road House 2 brings us Johnathon Schaech playing Swayze's son in a copy of the original that isn't half bad.

Schaech plays Tanner, a DEA agent who learns his uncle Nate, owner of the Black Pelican Bar in Louisiana, is in the hospital after an attack by drug dealers. Nate raised Tanner after his dad (the original Swayze) was mysteriously killed. Now, a lowlife named Wild Bill wants Nate's bar. Wild Bill is played by Jake Busey -- yep, his old man is crazy Gary Busey and the kid looks like the apple didn't fall far. With a linebacker's build and a mean streak a mile wide, Wild Bill used to be the Pelican's toughest bouncer until Nate fired him for selling dope. His chief henchman is Marcus, a black street thug who is big, bad and all muscle.

In order to fill Swayze's big shoes, Schaech has got to show the same physicality and fighting skills the first movie showcased -- and the kid does. In one scene, we see him in just gym shorts working out on the heavy bag, throwing punches and barefoot kicks. The young Schaech has a sculpted torso, rippled with muscle. Early on we get to compare him to Wild Bill when we see Busey in a hot tub attended by two topless hookers. Though the girls make him grin and close his eyes with pleasure, his muscular chest and arms, covered in tattoos, let us know this is one badass dude.

Tanner soon learns that the local police are in Wild Bill's pocket from Dep. Hendricks, a tough redneck cop, who urges Tanner to go home. The only ones in his corner are the Pelican's bouncers -- especially Chubby, a built young football jock. But among the bouncers is Luther, a heavily muscled brute, who is playing a double game. Tanner finds another ally in local beauty, Beau, who is not only sexy but can handle a gun. They make love in a sizzling scene where both hard bodies are on display.

Throughout the movie the action is hot and heavy with plenty of shoot outs and bar fights. When Tanner discovers Luther's betrayal, he brutally snuffs the muscleman in a savage fight. The final showdown occurs when Wild Bill's gang attacks the bar. At the very moment that it looks like Marcus has got the drop on Tanner, a gunshot ends the black thug's life. Tanner looks up to see Dep. Hendricks and gives the hillbilly lawman the thumbs up. Of course, the main event is the fight between Wild Bill and Tanner. The two are evenly matched with Schaech's muscled physique vs. Busey's brute strength. They fight with fists, kicks and even chains. A mystery is solved when an excited Wild Bill, who has his massive arms wrapped around Tanner's neck, ready to snap it, whispers "I can't believe I killed your father and now I get to kill his son." Enraged by that knowledge, Tanner comes roaring back and pummels Wild Bill into half-consciousness. Then, after telling him that he owes him for his dad's death and the attack on his uncle, Tanner makes Wild Bill pay the ultimate price. We have to believe that Swayze would have done the same thing -- like father like son.

Let me start by saying you know a film is poorly run when extras make the cover. With that said, anyone who says this is the worst film ever is being dramatic, and anyone who says that the film is great is completely delusional. The film "is what it is." And what is that... A modest budget ($4 million, I estimate) studio sequel. The film isn't terrible, but for Road House fans it will be a disappointment. And that brings me to problem one, just as Dirty Dancing wouldn't been what it was without Swayze, Road House isn't the same without him. The lead lacks depth, character, and likability to carry the film. I feel that the lead was poorly cast and the producers should have bent over backwards to get Patrick to do it if they were gonna do a sequel. The other cast was uneven with outstanding actors like Will Patton along side day players who couldn't act there way out of a paper bag. Busey, who I have seen do great characters seemed like he just mailed it in. Ellen was played well, except for not being believable at all as a bayou raised chick. Sherri, the DEA agent at the first bar was hot and a good actress, yet her part was awkwardly small and undeveloped. The writer totally missed all opportunities to add depth and interest to the story and characters. Instead opting for a base one dimensional film. Which leads me to the biggest problem, the script... I got a bad feeling when the credits rolled and there were three script writers separated by an "and" and an "&." It looked very amateur. And that is what the writing was. I heard the original script was better and then a rewrite was done and the hard core sucking began. Some cheezy parts of the film to watch for are... During the first undercover meeting, the obvious drug deal under the table. "Hey lets meet at a crowded nudey bar, I will pull a block of coke out of my jacket and you pull cash out then we will slide them under the cocktail table" WAIT! "Make sure to look cool when you look left and right to make sure no one is looking!" Second, I love it when someone gets shot in the chest and then you see him sitting up happy as a lark 10 minutes later. There are some nasty editing cuts towards the end of the film especially during fight scenes and when the main character is chasing thru doors and runs into a patron. Which brings me to the realism of the DEA training, I won't both to get technical... But jumping thru doors isn't standard training... Nor do typical female agents, who bust their butts to make it in a male oriented field, act like weak characters... Boring! Thanks for the chauvinistic view Heir Director. There is other stuff I could teach a course at a school about it... The sped up fighting, the cheezy dialogue, the recycled story... etc... But aside from all that you just cannot like ex-Mr. Applegate, he totally lacks the humble zen coolness that made Mr. Patrick Swayze such a bad ass. He just strikes me as one of those 5 foot nothing actors who think they are a bad ass, but just like Van Damnit he runs into a real bad ass (Chuck Zito in Van Don't case) and he gives him a lesson about "badassdom." Therefore, that I feel is the major linchpin of the film, if you are a bad ass you are a bad ass, you don't have to try. Example: Swayze! If you are a pretty boy who tries to hard to prove you are a bad ass among other things... Then well... You are why your audience, the Average Joe... Will not rent this film, and if they do they will write reviews like this.