ROCKY BALBOA
starring: Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young, Antonio Tarver
director: Sylvester Stallone
writer: Sylvester Stallone
date: December 22, 2006
reviewer: Clarkey
rating: 8.0
Nowadays, it seems like the theatres are filled with unnecessary sequels, trilogies and movie franchises trying to squeeze out every penny out of the market (examples include Scary Movie 4, and Saw 3). I’ll admit at first, I was not happy with the idea and production for another Rocky film. At the same time, Rocky V was pretty awful. I decided to play the wait and see game, but curiosity got the best of me.
The film is a solid flick. I didn’t ruin the franchise like I thought it might. It actually made amends for Rocky V and gives the franchise the proper ending it deserves. This time around, Rocky is older and settled with a nice restaurant that he runs. However, we learn that his beloved Adrian has passed away and he has been depressed about it ever since and on top of that, his son Rocky Jr. (played greatly by Milo Ventimiglia) is trying to get out of his father’s shadow. Sly was born to play the role of Rocky and nobody else could have played him. He was excellent even when he had his dramatic scenes and his simple words of wisdom were back on par with the original Rocky. My main problem with the movie was the character of Mason “The Line” Dixon (Antonio Tarver) played Rocky’s opponent for the exhibition fight. He was not like the traditional antagonists like Apollo Creed or Ivan Drago. The audience was supposed to feel sympatric towards Dixon, but it didn’t work the way they hope. A Rocky film would be nothing without Burt Young, who was once again solid as Paulie, Rock’s brother-in-law. Young also had the comedic lines that lightened the depressed mood at times, just like all the other Rocky films. Geraldine Hughes played the little girl from the first Rocky, who is grown up and a single mother. She was great taking the place of the female supporter in Rocky’s life, and her performance resembled the same one that Talia Shire did in the original.
Sly also did a good job behind the camera using almost the exact same shots as the first movie. I’m still on the fence with the use of black and white shots. As for the fight and training scenes, which what most Rocky fans wait for, were great as the originals, although they were shorter. The focus of the flick is on Rocky dealing with his hardships in life and trying to survive, while wondering if he still has it as the computer suggests. Another positive that I took from this movie was the paying homage to the original franchise with flashbacks (despite the colours) of infamous scenes, images, characters and quotes. “Screw you, creepo.” I loved it.
The best part of this movie for me is that it gave the franchise a worthy ending, but if the film does well at the box office, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rocky VII comes out next year. I know even Sly was not too impressed with the last Rocky and wanted to bring justice to its fans and for that I thank him, but please stop it here. If you’re a Rocky fan, you have to see this film and if you’re not a fan of the franchise, you should still see it because it is a good movie.
director: Sylvester Stallone
writer: Sylvester Stallone
date: December 22, 2006
reviewer: Clarkey
rating: 8.0
Nowadays, it seems like the theatres are filled with unnecessary sequels, trilogies and movie franchises trying to squeeze out every penny out of the market (examples include Scary Movie 4, and Saw 3). I’ll admit at first, I was not happy with the idea and production for another Rocky film. At the same time, Rocky V was pretty awful. I decided to play the wait and see game, but curiosity got the best of me.
The film is a solid flick. I didn’t ruin the franchise like I thought it might. It actually made amends for Rocky V and gives the franchise the proper ending it deserves. This time around, Rocky is older and settled with a nice restaurant that he runs. However, we learn that his beloved Adrian has passed away and he has been depressed about it ever since and on top of that, his son Rocky Jr. (played greatly by Milo Ventimiglia) is trying to get out of his father’s shadow. Sly was born to play the role of Rocky and nobody else could have played him. He was excellent even when he had his dramatic scenes and his simple words of wisdom were back on par with the original Rocky. My main problem with the movie was the character of Mason “The Line” Dixon (Antonio Tarver) played Rocky’s opponent for the exhibition fight. He was not like the traditional antagonists like Apollo Creed or Ivan Drago. The audience was supposed to feel sympatric towards Dixon, but it didn’t work the way they hope. A Rocky film would be nothing without Burt Young, who was once again solid as Paulie, Rock’s brother-in-law. Young also had the comedic lines that lightened the depressed mood at times, just like all the other Rocky films. Geraldine Hughes played the little girl from the first Rocky, who is grown up and a single mother. She was great taking the place of the female supporter in Rocky’s life, and her performance resembled the same one that Talia Shire did in the original.
Sly also did a good job behind the camera using almost the exact same shots as the first movie. I’m still on the fence with the use of black and white shots. As for the fight and training scenes, which what most Rocky fans wait for, were great as the originals, although they were shorter. The focus of the flick is on Rocky dealing with his hardships in life and trying to survive, while wondering if he still has it as the computer suggests. Another positive that I took from this movie was the paying homage to the original franchise with flashbacks (despite the colours) of infamous scenes, images, characters and quotes. “Screw you, creepo.” I loved it.
The best part of this movie for me is that it gave the franchise a worthy ending, but if the film does well at the box office, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rocky VII comes out next year. I know even Sly was not too impressed with the last Rocky and wanted to bring justice to its fans and for that I thank him, but please stop it here. If you’re a Rocky fan, you have to see this film and if you’re not a fan of the franchise, you should still see it because it is a good movie.
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