Road House

While making cosmetic updates to the original, the slick and stylish remake of Road House fails to validate its own necessity.

Jake Gyllenhaal is an upgrade over the late Patrick Swayze. Yet like its cheesy 1989 predecessor, this rough-and-tumble action thriller from director Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow) is a testosterone-fueled throwback without much substance or depth to beneath its surface macho posturing.

That’s not an issue when emphasizing cracked skulls and snapped limbs, but the film lacks punch as a redemption saga of a broken man haunted by his past.

Gyllenhaal plays Dalton, a brooding loner whose reputation precedes him, for better or worse. He’s a former mixed-martial arts champion whose life is in shambles, causing him to show up at underground fights with measly jackpots.

That’s where he meets Frankie (Jessica Williams), who needs a bouncer at her beachside Florida Keys club overrun by rogues and thugs. He reluctantly accepts because, of course, he really needs the money.

You can see why the job has such a high turnover rate. On his first day, Dalton wipes out an entire biker gang while barely breaking a sweat. However, that winds up involving him in a maze of organized crime and political corruption, leading to showdowns with a low-level fixer (Billy Magnusson) and a cutthroat mobster (former MMA champion Conor McGregor).

Along the way, flashbacks periodically fill in the details about the trauma Dalton is trying to escape, at least physically if not emotionally. He warns a nurse (Daniela Melchior) not to get too close: “It takes a lot to make me angry, but when I am, it’s tough to let go.”

Gyllenhaal’s multilayered performance goes beyond his ripped physique to find Dalton’s insecurities and emotional scars, adding internal vulnerability alongside his exterior swagger.

Liman uses the tropical setting to his advantage from a visual standpoint, while the barroom brawls and pugilistic confrontations convey a visceral intensity.

At least the ridiculous film doesn’t take itself too seriously, with Dalton always having a sarcastic quip or comeback at the ready — even if it technically seems out of character. In his acting debut, McGregor brings charisma as the most buffed-up cartoonish villain of all the buffed-up cartoonish villains.

Likewise, the screenplay employs blunt force rather than nuance and subtlety, which doesn’t work as well when trying to generate sympathy for the anguished Dalton. Road House is a one-way street.

Rated R, 121 minutes.