Review of Rocky V (1990) by Russell S — 28 Sep 2016

Hey! You there!! Ya know what? ...I kinda like Rocky V, okay?

Let's start with the problems, because they certainly are glaringly obvious:

*Rocky acts like he is truly retarded throughout this one, rather than the sweet-natured oaf he played previously.

*The scene in the gym where he sees Mickey talking to his younger(?) self is hack as f*ck.

*Robert needs to shut the hell up and get that weird earring off of his head.

*Paulie manages to literally give away all of the family's money by signing a single piece of paper (off screen).

But there's a lot of good here, too:

*The relationship with Tommy Gunn, a talented hot head who ultimately fails because he lacks Rocky's heart (Adrian's speech about this really well encapsulates the appeal of this series).

*The ending fight scene with Tommy is bad ass.

*The weird, avant-garde black and white, "Jeremy's Spoken" style montage.

*The emphasis on Rocky's PTSD following the Drago fight, which actually retroactively makes the impossibility of that previous feat more palatable.

*George Duke Washington's scenery chewing.