Rocky Balboa (2006)

Genres

Drama | Sport

Director

Sylvester Stallone

Country

USA

Cast

Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young, Milo Ventimiglia, Geraldine Hughes, James Francis Kelly, Tony Burton, Antonio Tarver, Talia Shire

Storyline

Thirty years after his first match, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) comes out of retirement to fight the reigning heavyweight champion Mason "The Line" Dixon (Tony Burton). 

Opinion

I've just checked out the rating on IMDb and I'm kind of starting to think I'm alone on this island, but I didn't found "Rocky Balboa" much better than its predecessors. I actually found it rather pathetic and overly sentimental.

I don't know how others were able to enjoy it, but there was something about the plot that just didn't do for me. Maybe it was the fact that it is absolutely ridiculous and boring. I mean, is there anything more ridiculous than a 60-year-old retired boxer fighting a 20-year-old boxer? I know the answer, yes, there is. It's the old guy actually winning the fight. I get the filmmakers wanted to give the series and Rocky a happy handing but that's not how you do it. 

Another problem with the film is the relationship between Rocky and his son Robert. They were doing kind of okay when "Rocky V" ended; now Robert won't even stay in the same room with the father only because he doesn't want to live in his father's shadow, which by the way should have been explored better. What was I even expecting, it's the Rocky series after all. Not to mention Rocky's utterly pointless love interest and her son.

Let's just move onto the next problem, the pace and focus of the film. The first is so slow it's a challenge not to fall asleep; the latter, I'm still not sure if the film is supposed to be about the fight or just about an old man who is acting like he's the first man to lose his wife.

And now the fight. Other than having a very unlikely yet totally predictable ending, the match and boxing sequences are barely watchable.