Rocky Balboa (PG)
Mike:
Scott:
Scott: Tonight we are reviewing Rocky Balboa
, the final installment in the Rocky series. This time he isn't fighting to save the world from Soviet domination, or from Don King impersonation, but for his own salvation (a little boxing promoter poetry).
What did you think Mike?
Mike: I enjoyed this movie. I found it entertaining as hell. I went in expecting to hate it, but this movie is fun to watch.
And you?
Scott: I enjoyed it. That music gets the heart going and you just start cheering for the guy.
Mike: You think “why would a guy Sylvester Stallone’s age fight again?”, but they come up with a good reason. Then you see what kind of shape he gets in and you think this isn't as crazy as you originally thought.
Scott: It's been 16 years since we last saw him and he actually looks better than he did in the last Rocky movie.
Mike: I barely remember Rocky 5, but I remember hating it.
Scott: One of my problems with the last movie was the slow speech of Rocky –seemingly as a result of head trauma. This time they nixed that and he talks normal speed, still with the Philly accent though.
Mike: I was afraid they had gone back to the well three too many times, but this movie covers some new ground. On the other hand, Rocky fans will love all the references to the other movies, especially the original.
Scott: It's surprisingly uncommon for people in sequels to refer to events that occurred in earlier films, but they do that often with this.
Mike: As will be obvious from the first few moments, his beloved wife Adrian has died. He now owns what looks to be a successful restaurant, but something is missing from his life. His relationship with his son is not what he wishes it was. But, like in every other Rocky, he still has Paulie (Burt Young).
Scott: It's funny, every time you see him in the restaurant he is telling customers about his former exploits and I kept wondering if he was forcing his memories on the customers, or if they were enjoying the stories.
Mike: I wondered that too. I think that since the restaurant was always busy, people must have been enjoying it.
Scott: You would think Paulie would change a little, but he really doesn't. He just seems get more bitter, different shades of the same red.
Mike: Not a happy guy.
Scott: Never was. He definitely had a chip on his shoulder.
There have been 6 Rocky's and seems like they have had a dozen Rocky juniors. Each time the kid has a chip on his shoulder.
Mike: This time Rocky Jr. is played by Milo Ventimiglia from the hit TV show Heroes. That must be like the most Italian name ever.
A nice addition to the cast is Marie (Geraldine Hughes) and her son Steps (James Francis Kelly III).
Scott: Marie is referred to in the movie as the Little Marie from the first movie, but they are not the same. There was a Marie in Rocky, but it was a different actress.
Mike: Rocky is still hung up on Adrian and Marie is much too young, but this is a character that Rocky starts to care about.
Scott: We don't see too much of Kelly, but his origin is good for a laugh in the movie.
Mike: With his son not in the picture at first, Rocky takes Steps under his wing.
Scott: I guess they used deep allusion there by calling this other son ‘Steps’, like step-son.
Mike: You know what? Spider Rico (Pedro Lovell) is actually from the first Rocky!
Scott: Yeah, I saw that. I don't remember him from that first Rocky. I will have to check it out again.
Mike: Tony Burton as Duke, Rocky's corner man, goes all the way back to the original as well.
Scott: And did you see Frank Stallone in the restaurant? I saw him but couldn't place him.
Mike: No, but if he can't get work in a Sylvester Stallone film, where can he?
Scott: That hurts...
Scott: You know that at some point the movie ends up in the ring and that is the best part of this, or any other Rocky movie.
Mike: I was amazed how good the dialogue is and the movie has a good sense of humor. But as you mention, the training and the actual fight is what we are waiting for.
I couldn't help but get charged up watching the training montage.
Scott: I was half expecting him to bend over and catch his breath during one of the running scenes.
Really though, it all comes back to that Rocky music. It stands the test of time; it's one of the classic scores in film.
Mike: Gonna Fly Now by Bill Conti.
Scott: I can't believe it lost the Oscar to A Star is Born for Best Original Song.
Mike: Well that’s because it was before either of us was old enough to vote.
Scott: They really need to have the Hindsight™ Oscars for the stuff that has stood the test of time and did not win the awards in the year they came out.
Mike: Rocky is matched up against Mason "the Line" Dixon the heavyweight champion in a stunt match.
Mason is played by actual boxer, light heavyweight, Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver.
Scott: A boxer who is well known.
Mike: A good boxer, but not necessarily a good actor. He does a pretty good job, though as a Champ that has alienated his fans with his cockiness.
Scott: Boxers are never good actors. It's funny to see him fake box in the movie, it looked fake at times. I think having two actors fake the boxing may actually have looked more realistic.
Mike: Do you mean like Sylvester Stallone and Carl Weathers in Rocky?
Scott: Yes, that looked really good.
Mike: This movie reminds me of the original without being a copy or a rehash.
I'm not going to say how the fight comes out, but I found myself as excited as if I was cheering on my team in the Super bowl.
There were spontaneous cheers and clapping throughout the last 20 minutes of the movie. That is not something we see very often.
Scott: It's crazy, but people cheered during the fight itself, as if they were watching a live fight. Normally, if people cheer, or applaud, it is at the end of the movie, not during the movie like this.
Mike: It was amazing. It has been a long time since a movie manipulated me like that. And I mean that as a compliment.
Scott: How do you rate this Mike?
Mike: I give this movie a 4 overall and a 4 as a sports drama. Stallone has his prints all over this movie as he wrote, directed and starred in it.
How about you?
Scott: I give this a 3 overall and a 4 as a boxing/Rocky/sports movie. Stallone redeemed himself and the franchise with this movie. I am glad to see Rocky walk away from the ring, and not a bar like the last movie.
Mike: Go to the movies this weekend and let Rocky Balboa knock you out.
Scott: Rocky said knock you out!
