The plot follows a similar path as the original, only this time it moves the action to Louisiana. At the center of everything is a bar called The Black Pelican, which is owned by Nate Turner (Will Patton), that an ex-bouncer and wannabe drug lord, Wild Bill (Jake Busey), is eager to get his hands on. Of course, Nate isn’t interested in Bill’s offer, prompting Bill to send in his gang to rough up Nate. The beating puts Nate in the hospital. After hearing that his uncle is in the hospital, undercover DEA agent Shane Turner (we know he’s a DEA agent because he always wears a shirt that says DEA on it – even while undercover) comes to take care of business.
Aside from being a master of disguise, Shane (played by Jonathan Schaech) is also the son of James Dalton, the character Patrick Swayze played in the original, which serves as one of the films few ties to the original. Apparently Dalton died under mysterious circumstances, adding another… well, let’s just say goofy plot element.
When compared to Swayze’s performance, Schaech feels like more like he’s simply doing a bad imitation of Swayze rather than building his own character. In fact, a majority of the movie feels like a bad imitation of the original. Many of the more classic lines from the original pop up at times and are joined by some equally bad gems like, “Stab me once, shame on you. Stab me twice, ain’t gonna happen” or, “Know why they call me a robot? Because I’m automatically kicking your ass.”
Shane soon meets up with Beau (Ellen Hollman), a knockout in both senses. Beau can handle herself in a fight, which she does in a classic catfight towards the end. After the two team up, the movie moves from one over-the-top action scene to another until it finally comes to… again, let’s just say goofy finale.
As both a sequel to Road House and a straight to DVD release, I wasn’t expecting much from Road House 2. Still, despite the obvious rip-off elements from the original, I still found myself enjoying it – somewhat. It doesn’t compare to the original, but it still makes for a fun time if you’re the type that enjoys bad movies.
