Road House’s Remake Destroys A 12-Year Patrick Swayze Trend That Hurt 2 Other Movies

The fact that Road House’s remake succeeded with critics means that the long streak of failed Patrick Swayze remakes has come to an end. 2024’s Road House remake is a crowd-pleasing action thriller by director Doug Liman. Pitting Jake Gyllenhaal’s tough bouncer against Conor McGregor’s unhinged crime boss, the slick remake of Patrick Swayze’s 1989 star vehicle is bruising, brutal, and just silly enough to be entertaining without sacrificing the story’s stakes. This is quite an achievement considering earlier attempts to remake Swayze’s hits proved disastrous, and it bodes well for any future directors revisiting the star’s back catalog.

Patrick Swayze was a unique screen presence, as evidenced by the failure of 2015’s Point Break remake and 2012’s Red Dawn. By the time Road House 2024’s ending rolls around, it is tough to deny that the remake has developed an identity of its own. Road House 2024’s stylistic departure from the original, alongside Gyllenhaal’s very different lead character, means that the remake doesn’t feel like a pointless retread of its predecessor. However, there are enough nods to the original movie for the long-awaited project to feel like more than an in-name-only follow-up.

Road House Means There’s Finally A Good Remake Of A Patrick Swayze Remake

Red Dawn & Point Break’s remakes didn’t work

Although Point Break 2015 and Red Dawn 2012 failed completely, Road House 2024 proves that Patrick Swayze movies can be successfully remade. Unlike these earlier re-imaginings, Road House 2024 is entertaining and worth watching, honoring the original well while also inarguably doing its own thing. Before the movie’s release, it would have been fair to assume that Road House’s status as a Swayze remake could hurt its critical prospects, but the 2024 movie proved that it was Red Dawn 2012 and Point Break 2016’s failings that doomed them. Unlike Road House, both movies stuck too close to their predecessors.

Red Dawn’s remake was doomed since any attempt to replicate the Cold War paranoia of the original movie was always bound to fall flat in 2012. Furthermore, Red Dawn’s bland plot also unwisely replicated the original movie’s humorless, dour tone, resulting in a bleak and grim affair. Meanwhile, Point Break 2015 lost all of the original movie’s edge by replacing the 1990 movie’s R-rating with a sanitized PG-13. Without an adults-only rating, Point Break 2015 couldn’t replicate the brutally violent, unabashedly sexy tone of director Kathryn Bigelow’s original cult classic. Road House 2024 avoided both these issues.

Is Road House’s Remake Better Than The Original Movie?

Did Jake Gyllenhaal outdo Patrick Swayze’s movie?

Although Road House 2024 has many Easter eggs for fans of the original movie, the remake is still pointedly its own beast. Gyllenhaal’s version of Dalton is brash, charismatic, and surprisingly self-aware, whereas Swayze’s take on the character was famously Zen. This is a wise change since the archetype of the enlightened white martial arts master has become an unwelcome cliché in the years since the original movie was released, whereas it was still a cheesy novelty when Swayze played the role. The ‘80s icon had a singular appeal epitomized in Igu and Hartly’s 2023 song ‘Swayze.’

Thus, Road House 2024’s smartest decision is moving away from the original movie’s tone and Swayze’s characterization of its hero, offering viewers a more flip, ironic take on the material. Since Road House’s perfect final fight fixes the original movie’s underwhelming finale, it is easy to argue that the remake is the stronger movie. 1989’s Road House retains a unique charm that is irreplaceable and inexorably tied to the ‘80s, but Liman’s slick remake updates the action and offers a more polished alternative to the scrappier, more self-serious original. In this regard, the 2024 remake is stronger.

Are There More Patrick Swayze Movie Remakes In The Works?

What’s next after Road House

Now that Road Hose 2024 has proven a success, the next Swayze remakes are likely to have a smoother road ahead of them. Channing Tatum is attached to a remake of Ghost, and Tatum’s history of romantic roles makes him a good fit for such a tonally tricky role. Ghost is infamously cheesy, but Road House’s remake navigated the original movie’s goofiness deftly and proved that future remakes could do so in the process. After Ghost, a Dirty Dancing sequel is set for release in 2025. This could prove an even more substantial test of Swayze’s inter-generational appeal.

Dirty Dancing is arguably the most iconic of the star’s roles, but its earlier follow-ups failed to replicate the original movie’s monumental cultural impact. Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights was a critical and commercial failure, while 2017’s TV movie remake wasted the likes of Abigail Breslin and Sarah Hyland on an uneven, pointless re-do. Road House 2024 may have proven that Swayze’s appeal can translate to modern movie success, but Dirty Dancing’s highly anticipated sequel may challenge this when the movie finally arrives.