Review of Rocky IV (1985) by Anthony K — 26 Sep 2016

I mean, look - Rocky IV is not a GOOD movie. The plot is thin, with a plot as adherent to the Rocky formula as Rocky III and a villain whose acting is just as ridiculous. The less said about Rocky Jr. and the robot, too, the better. It also creates some pretty ridiculous plot holes - Rocky says he's been married to Adrian for 9 years, but this seems to follow on directly from III, which follows directly from II, which follows immediately from I. And how could Rocky possibly withstand even a single haymaker from someone who punches at 4 times the maximum PPI?

BUT, I do think this is a much better film than III. Drago says barely anything, but is a million times more intimidating than frickin Clubber Lang (those feather earrings -_-). "If he dies - he dies" and "I must break you" are among the most bad ass lines ever uttered on screen.

And when he kills Apollo Creed, arguably the best actor in this series, I was genuinely affected - especially having already seen the incredible 2015 Creed film.

So f*ck it - Rocky IV is dumb fun, and - in my opinion - only the third worst in the series.