Just got back from watching Rocky Balboa, the sixth and probably last one in the series.

Movies don’t work without a suspension of belief. In the best films you forget you’re in a theater and become immersed in the story. With Rocky Balboa I tried really, really hard to get over the baggage from the past films and just couldn’t. I kept thinking: how on earth could the Rock still be walking and speaking, much less getting a license to fight again? Stallone painted himself into a corner as a storyteller that was simply too great to escape.

With that said, Rocky Balboa is a better movie than a few others in the series. It takes the story where we should have gone after Rocky IV. It feels like a do-over for the series. Uncle Pauly and Duke are about the only characters besides Rock to keep the continuity alive. Pauly has a few signature wisecracks but doesn’t really get a chance to redeem himself; a character subplot hole that we may never see repaired.

Now onto the rankings before I come back and grade this one.

Ranking the Rocks
1. Rocky I - more a love story than a boxing story and one could make an argument that Adrian was the main character. Her power would endure through all six films but none stronger than here. When Rocky became more about boxing than love, Stallone lost the edge.
2. Rocky III - Mr. T was easily the best Rocky foe. Mean, a warrior. His line in Rocky 3 is priceless: “I live alone, train alone and I’ll win the title alone.” Also factor in Apollo Creed coming back to train Rocky and the drama surrounding Mick. This was the pinnacle of the franchise after the classic first.
3. Rocky II - My favorite boxing storyline of all the films. The interplay between Rocky and Apollo is outstanding. Burgess Meredith is at his best in this film.
4. Rocky Balboa - A better Rocky 5. Clearly Stallone has had time to think of the plot and the logical progression from Rocky 4. Too bad there is all the weight of the medical stuff. How on earth did he get a “clean bill of health” to be able to fight again?
5. Rocky IV - the blood doping Russian Ivan Drago is the most unrealistic fight of the series. From the beating Rocky took here the future films should have been with Rocky dead and not others. Recently I ranked this as the worst Rocky film but I’ve changed my mind and put this slightly ahead of Rocky 5.
6. Rocky V - This is the movie that tried to be Rocky Balboa and I think Stallone is grateful for the chance to get a rewrite. Even Stallone admits he made Rocky too human in this movie and paid the price. Rocky needed to be the hero and his inability to get into the ring spoiled this ring. When the fight does come in this movie, it’s too late to save it.

Grading the Rock
Despite the film’s shortcomings, Rocky Balboa is still a story worth telling and I’m glad Stallone fought to see this movie being made. It’s a much better ending to the franchise than Rocky V. It’s too bad the other flicks exist or it would be easier to appreciate. It feels a little bit like Rocky I and V hybrid without the love story and an over the hill Rocky. What the Rock doesn’t have in physical assets he still has in heart.

I haven’t read any other reviews — on purpose — before watching and judging this film myself but I’m curious now after seeing it and writing this what others have to say. I had a major curiosity in the film ruined by a comment left in an older Rocky-related thread. As it turned out that didn’t have as much bearing on the film as I thought it would. All in all, this is a respectable Rocky movie that had a full theater cheering at one point, but not the point one might expect. That’s what I remember about Rocky III in the theater. At the end a few people clapped which best sums up my feelings about the picture. Grade: C+.

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