Review of Rocky Balboa (2006) by Mike S — 03 Jan 2013

Up front I must admit that I'm one of very few in that I actually didn't dislike Rocky V. I thought it brought a new direction to the whole franchise and whilst a bit of a downer, it ended with Rocky realising that his family was his true riches.

However, the movie world was unsatisfied, and as a result, eventually we got this film. And in truth, it's not bad. The first film of course is a fantastic film. You don't think of Stallone being the star of a Best Picture Oscar winning film (which he also wrote!) and the second is also a great film that continues the story well. The third and forth films are guilty pleasures, but poor movies overall (gotta have a montage!). This one is basically a nostalgic trip for fans which aims to end the series on a high. It does this through a convoluted and silly plot device, and then the usual montage and fight, ending the series with basically the same ending as the original film. If you can get past the ridiculousness of the fact that Rocky fights the current heavyweight champion and doesn't end up dead, then you should be happy enough. And let's face it, we've already gotten past the craziness of Hulk Hogan, Mr. T and the entire Rocky IV script, so fans of the series are used to looking past leaps in logic and sanity.