Rocky Balboa

I have a quick review for the new Rocky movie.

I wasn't originally going to see Rocky Balboa. Instead, I was thinking of seeing Eragon, the new fantasy movie. However, I started reading some guys saying it was one of the worst movies of the year... the general consensus seemed to feel this way. On the other hand, Rocky Balboa was getting good reviews, so I went to see that.

This movie takes place after Rocky V, and about four years after the death of Adrian. I read that originally Adrian was still going to be alive, but Stallone didn't think that gave the movie enough power, so he rewrote the script where she was dead. It was this that really really helped the movie. Her being dead created so much more emotion than I think would have happened had she been alive in the movie. It was made the movie more than a simple retread on tired ground.

Basically, Adrian is dead and Rocky is a suffering widow with his son (played by Heroes' Milo Ventimiglia). The big time Heavyweight Champ, Mason Dixon, has no real challengers and is criticized for this. ESPN has a mock computer matchup between the young Balboa and Mason Dixon, and it says that Balboa would win in a match. Rocky feels like getting back into boxing to have something to do, when Dixon's manager and a promoter come up to him saying Balboa and Dixon could have an exhibition match. And so on.

Let me tell you, I like Stallone as much as any action star like Schwartzenegger.... well I guess that's it... I only like Stallone and Arnold, I can't stand Van Damme, Seagal, or Chuck Norris. But I never really thought Stallone had the best acting skills, even after seeing Rocky I and II. I haven't seen Oscar, which I heard he is good in, but I have seen a lot of his action movies, and he's an action star, not a real actor. But he wowed me with this movie. He has some unbelievable monologues in this movie which he delivers with such umph. He was truly great in this movie. The other actors are pretty good, though I'm still not sold on Milo Ventimiglia.

The presentation for the boxing scene itself is great too. Michael Buffer, as well as the regular HBO PPV boxing commentators are there, and it's a lot of fun, especially seeing the contrast between now and Rocky I which didn't have all the flash and pop of a modern boxing match. As you might expect, the boxing match itself is pretty damn good as well. I really didn't know who was going to win, but the result makes the most amount of sense.

The movie isn't perfect. There might be a couple too many monologues for the movie's own good. All the main characters have their own massive speech or two or three, and that can get wearing as I prefer some subtlety, instead of raw emotion constantly getting rammed down my throat. But that's Rocky, and I don't think it really detracted from the movie at all. There's also an incredibly annoying scene in a bar near the beginning of the movie concerning some trashy bar denizens and Rocky and buying a round of beers that I didn't like for how forced it seemed.

I was not a big fan of any of the Rocky's that I have seen, but this one really blew me away. I just really appreciated how it tied the series all together. It took a somewhat pulpy movie series and gave it a truly emotional strong ending. Now for Rambo 4.