Rocky Balboa DVD > Reviews > "Don't you think you're a little, you know, old?"

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Satisfactory
Special Effects	Standard
Soundtrack	Outstanding

Advantages:	:  A fiting poignant conclusion to the series, Stallone and Young on top form .
Disadvantages:	Some wooden acting, as cheesy as you would expect .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Rocky Balboa has been retired from Professional boxing for several years. Now running a restaurant named after his deceased wife, Rocky regales his customers with tales of his glory days when he stood "toe to toe" with the likes of Apollo Creed and Klubber Lang. Rocky is unexpectedly thrust back into the limelight when a Sports Channel creates a virtual fight between him, and current undefeated champion Mason Dixon. Does Rocky have what it takes to go one more round?

When Rocky Balboa was first released I have to admit I thought Stallone had gone a little bit insane. After all, Stallone is sixy-one now and even the biggest fan would be hard pressed to be convinced that someone of Stallone's age could still make it as a Professional boxer. However, I was surprised to find that I was able to suspend your disbelief over Stallone's age relatively early on in the film to the point were it was not a big issue. The film takes the sensible precaution of emphasising Rocky's age and the ridiculousness of him even stepping back into the ring and this makes it just plausible enough to believe for the 102 minute running time.

The feasibility of the film is helped further by the impressive physicality of Stallone who seems to look as impressive now as he did back in the day. Although, admittedly there are a lot more laughter lines, his physicality on screen is as impressive as it has ever been although Stallone himself has admitted it took him at least six months to get into the shape needed to reprise the role.

Seventeen years since Rocky V, Rocky Balboa is not really a continuation but more of a homage to the entire series. In fact, it more closely resembles the first Rocky movie released way back in 1976 than any of the subsequent films. There is definitely a sense of intentional nostalgia throughout the film and as a fan I lapped it up. Stallone reprises the role of the naive yet passionate boxer with ease and although he is no De Niro, brings a vulnerabilty and a naivety to the role. In a smart move, the love of Rocky's life, Adrian has died which allows Stallone to explore the emotional side of Rocky and also gives an excuse to revisit scenes from past Rocky films. Okay so this is hardly Shakespeare, but it does add a poignancy to the film and gives it a sense of time and place.

Burt Young also slips into his role of bitter, depressed Brother-in-Law Paulie with ease and for me, it is his best performance in the role. The death of his sister Adrian allows him to show a variety of emotions from anger to considerable guilt and he has some cracking one liners such as:

Marie: Do you have a reservation?
Paulie: Do I look like a freakin' Indian?

Newcomers to the series include Milo Ventimiglia as Rocky's son and Geraldine Hughes as Marie, the now grown up teenage tearaway from Rocky I. Ventimiglia is now best known as Peter Petrelli from Sci-Fi series "Heroes". I like him in that but in this film he is incredibly wooden and the sub-plot of him being jealous and feeling held-back by his father's success just does not work for me. He is not helped by a complete lack of meaningful dialogue so when he actually does finally explode into life, it is all a bit unconvincing.

Hughes on the other hand, plays the part of a vulnerable single mother well although the similiraties with the performance of Talia Shire as Adrian are a little too close for comfort. This is not helped by the slightly creepy and perverse relationship shown between Marie and Rocky. There father-daughter-wife relationship is a little uncomfortable to watch at times although it also provides some of the best emotional moments in the film.

As you can see this is not a film you are likely to enjoy much if you have no knowledge of the previous films. It is very much a tribute to them and I think it is a better film for it. Although, a surprisingly short part of the film is dedicated to Rocky training and his eventual final fight, it is a satisfying build up to a refreshing climax to the series. Rocky's opponent Mason Dixon (played by Antonio Tarver), is given little characterisation or screen time but is suitably fresh faced and provides a good contrast of old verus new. The actual fight sequence is scintillating stuff as you would expect and again, Stallone has done well to make this as believable as possible.

Of course, no Rocky movie would be complete without the cheesy music and set pieces and Stallone is clever enough to use anthems from previous films including the anthemic "Gonna Fly Now" and the running up steps scene. However, it is also nice to see that the film does try to address how the World has moved on since Rocky's glory days with the removal of his bronze statue and closing of the ice rink he and Adrian skated on.

As you can see, I am a major Rockyy fan which I think impacts directly on how much you can enjoy this film. If you do not have the sense of nostalgia I have for the series, you may not enjoy this as much as I did. For me, it provides a perfect sense of closure to a series that had waned and is a well made retirement of an iconic film. It offers nothing new, but it revels in that and should be applauded for not trying to be something it is not. Eighties cheese is back one last time and you know what? "Everybody thought this was a joke, including me! Now, nobody's laughing!"