Dir.
Sylvester Stallone, US, 102 mins
Cast: Burt Young, Milo Ventimiglia, Geraldine Hughes, James
Francis Kelly III
Review by Matthew Rodgers
The months of 2007 are going to be 12 rounds
of nostalgic indulgence. We have robots in disguise, Bruce
Willis in that dirty old vest, and at the sound of the bell
an over-the-hill boxer will enter the ring for one final
time, and he won't be carrying a grilling machine.
Anybody questioning the believability of Rocky Balboa re-entering
the ring when he should be more concerned with dodgy hips
and life insurance should remember that the purveyor of said
kitchen accessory, George Foreman, successfully won the World
Heavyweight Championship at the tender age of 45 in November
1994.
Eyebrows were raised when a sixth instalment in the progressively
deteriorating franchise was announced but those people should
get their icepacks ready because writer/director Sylvester
Stallone delivers a knockout punch from which there is no
getting up.
Thirty years have passed since The Italian Stallion did
the only thing he knew how to do, and fought his way past
Apollo Creed: 'There won't be a rematch', and Ivan Drago:
'If he dies, he dies' to find a place in the world and achieve
the American dream. But what does a man do when his glory
days have gone, his wife has lost a battle of her own, and
his only son doesn't want to be associated with him as he
fights to emerge from the shadow of his once great father?
Rocky Balboa is living in a world that doesn't need him
anymore. That is until a high tech computer re-enactment
matches the current champion Mason Dixon, an unproven, dispassionate
fighter against Rocky with surprising results forming the
catalyst for another rendition of Bill Conti's classic score,
a now iconic training montage, and the obligatory climactic
showdown.
Rocky Balboa is going to be enjoyed slightly
more by those reminiscing with the hazy memories of days
gone by. The film is one for the children of the 80w who
grew up with the franchise and for whom the familiarity will
resonate like you are meeting up with an old friend in 'Rocko'.
It is basically a rehash of the first film's template: Disillusioned
Rocky; Inspired Rocky; Training Rocky; Fighting Rocky; Triumphant
Rocky. This sequence of events is not necessarily a bad thing
because the original was nominated for 10 Academy Awards
and to this day remains the best 'against the odds' film
in modern cinema.
Points awarded to Rocky Balboa by the judges
will be for the following. The acting is superb, especially
Stallone who has always made the characters' simplicity an
appealing trait. His script is littered with some fantastic
quotes that on paper could have been trite, but delivered
with sincerity and feeling from a man more renowned for his
muscles than his monologues. It is a performance of showy
understatement. Even the physicality with which Rocky is
associated is not heightened because he is now a fragile
man, still imposing, but only able to do a single chin-up
at the films outset.
The only other surviving cast member from
all six films is Burt Young's Paulie who provides the rational
voice in an attempt to ground the soft focus reality that
Rocky seems to be living in when he decides to fight again.
It is a superb performance from the erstwhile loser. Of the
new character additions the one to earmark for the heavyweight
division is Milo Ventimiglia who is currently flying high
(literally) in the smash hit US TV show Heroes (scheduled
to be shown on BBC2 this March) who plays Robert Balboa Jr.
Stallone's obvious passion in giving the character a great
send off is manifested in the look of the film. He is a surprisingly
accomplished director who shows a fantastic array of visual
techniques, none more so than in the boxing match because
as a cinematic sport it can strain for originality amongst
the saturated familiarity of Raging Bull, Ali, Cinderella
Man, and countless other contenders.
The only standing count (not quite a knock down for those
unfamiliar with the lingo) for the film is the weakness of
the opponent, played by real life boxer Antonio Tarver, because
throughout the series they have been as much a draw as Balboa
himself. This may have been intentional because one of the
films focal points is the fact that boxing is no longer a
sport filled with personalities, or heart; fighters like
Rocky. This could also have been done to provide an antithesis
to Rocky but instead slightly reduces the effectiveness of
the final fight.
Those that should get ringside tickets to the main event
in January are franchise completists, tear stained nostalgia
junkies, and at a time when cinema screens can be bogged
down by Oscar-baiting dramas, for those just looking to have
the wind knocked out of them it will be the most fun they
could have in a cinema in a long while.
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