Review of Rocky III (1982) by Jordan K — 23 Apr 2015

The Rocky series is the king and innovator of sports cliches and '80s cheese, and it shows its cheesyness no more than its third installment, where the turning point in enjoying Rocky begins - the formula of Rocky being knocked down for a second and always winning gets old, the formula of him always battling some death or adjustment in his life that makes him stronger in fighting - this is where it all begins.

Rocky's win against Apollo Creed has elevated him to battling the cocky challenger Clubber Lang, where he also deals with the death of his trainer Mick and his newfound replacement, Apollo himself. Rocky obviously wins and there's some typical training montages in there.

The Rocky series loses its innovation here. People may be shocked for a brief moment at Mick's death but the formula for the Rocky series is the same everytime, he always wins and faces a death or birth or a life adjustment. Stallone does his awful acting as usual, Mr. T is a fun time but in all actuality he's still one of the worst actors ever on screen. Rocky III was really the last good Rocky film, enjoy it while you can because the next three deal with Rocky getting old and still winning with his believable underdog charm. Nothing's great here, but it's a must for Rocky fans.