My dad and brother and I bonded over the Rocky movies. When I was a kid, and as a teen, and through the times we didn’t have much in common, we always had Rocky. He was this common denominator that we could all rally behind and cheer for – an underdog with an unstoppable heart whom we believed in.
Every time (and there were many in the first five films) Rocky dug himself out of some low point, and began to mount a comeback, whether it was on the beach training with Apollo Creed or screaming “DRAAAGO!!” from a snowy Russian mountain top, we were there rooting for him.
Who wouldn’t be?
So I have a bit of a personal investment in the whole collection, and I must admit I was a bit anxious about Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone’s newest installment.
Let’s face it, Sly, God love him, is pretty old to be getting back in the ring, and unlike Rocky 5, the climax of this film is a full-on classic Rocky-style bout. Despite my deep faith in Balboa’s abilities, before the film I thought to myself “this is bit of a stretch.”
But the beauty of Rocky is that like every true hero, he doesn’t act within the laws of reason that govern the rest of us. In the film he tells his son, “I stopped caring what other people thought a long time ago,” and if you’ve been there since the beginning – you don’t doubt the truth of those words.
The film begins with Rocky living in the same old neighbourhood where we first met him. Adrian is dead – and oddly there’s no explanation as to how she passed -- he’s estranged from his son, and Uncle Paulie –- still boozing, smoking cigars and working at the meat plant -- is the only family member still close to him.
Rocky owns a restaurant where people come to meet the champ and hear some of his old fight stories, but his life is pretty empty and he spends most of his time mourning Adrian and feeling sorry for himself.
“You’re walking backwards,” shouts Paulie, in one of his trademark outbursts.
In what appears to be an attempt to exhibit some of Stallone’s acting, ahem, talents, much of the film is dedicated to exploring the depths of his grief. It’s a bit much, to be honest, and super cheesy and predictable, involving a woman, her tough son, and Rocky’s efforts to reclaim a purchase on life through helping them . Meanwhile, he’s also working to rebuild the fragile connection with his son Rocky Junior (Milo Ventimiglia – Luke’s nephew from Gimore Girls) who predictably feels like he’s living in Rocky’s shadow.
But Stallone definitely channels Rocky. He’s as he always was – clumsy with his words, cheesy with his humour, gentle and earnest but willing to let his temper loose when necessary. In short he’s still the Rocky we love and for that I salute him.
But like the film, I’m taking too long to get to the action. The premise of Rocky Balboa is one of its most brilliant qualities.
Mason Dixon, the undefeated world champ with 30 wins and no losses (played well by real-life boxer and former undisputed light-heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver) is hated by boxing fans because he’s never gone 10 rounds with an opponent and seems to be lacking the “heart of a champion.”
A sports network puts together a computer generated simulation fight between Balboa and Dixon, and Rocky comes out the winner by knockout.
The fight generates a lot of interest, and gets Dixon’s promoters thinking about doing it for real, since there are no worthy opponents left out there for Dixon anyway and it might be a way to win some fans.
Rocky, meanwhile, starts thinking about boxing again and manages to get a license, after giving a rousing speech to the unwilling Pennsylvania State Boxing Commission about how he’s earned the right to decide whether he’s ready to fight.
“This is who you are Rocky. This is what you do. Fighters fight,” Maria, played by Geraldine Hughes, tells him, convincing him to accept the “exhibition” challenge.
But anyone who knows Rocky knows he doesn’t stand for half-assed measures, and he puts his all into training his ancient body to duke it out with the world’s best.
Enter the training sequence – a trademark Rocky feature that my friend Phil and I were anxiously waiting for. I couldn’t help but cheer when it began with a quiet ‘da da da da, na na naa na na naa,’ leading into lots of classic Balboa workout shots and ending beautifully but predictably with the champ running up the stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. So, so good.
The film ends with the fight scene, of course, and it’s a classic heart wrenching, emotionally –charged Rocky moment that seals the RB’s status as a full-fledged member of the franchise. Like the crowd in the film, I wanted to jump to my feet and usher Rocky out with a standing ovation as he said farewell to his fans.
A couple of things jumped out at me that set this installment apart from the others, particularly one through four. For one thing, Sly is just old. There’s no doubt he’s in amazing shape for his age, but his aging body is showing some mileage. It literally looks like one of the massive sides of beef he’s been known to spar with, and at times it’s a little painful to watch.
And also, the fight scene just isn’t as believable as in the earlier films. The punches just don’t look like they’re landing, and there are fewer of the close-up glove-to-face smashes that can’t be faked.
And while the film has a grainy quality that hearkens back to one through three, for some reason Stallone decided to incorporate a few cheesy camera tricks, like slow-motion, and an over-used technique during the fight where everything goes black and white except for the blood, which is of course, bright red.
It’s a bit much, but doesn’t take away from the overall quality of this farewell film in a dynamite series.
Rocky fans will love it, but first-timers probably won’t appreciate what it’s all about. You need context to fully get this one, but for those of us who have that history, it’s awesome!
Weird observations: Duke, a stalwart member of Rocky’s entourage ever since Apollo Creed died and he moved to Rocky’s corner, comes out of nowhere to make the briefest of appearances at a news conference – apparently as Rocky’s trainer -- where he says something like ‘a great fighter never loses his punch.’ And that’s it, we don’t see him again. UPDATE*** I've been corrected. Duke does come back. He helps Rocky train. There's a great scene where he tells Rocky that Dixon is faster then him, can out-box him, and is in better shape than him "So what we have to do is build some blunt force trauma," he tells him. And shortly after the Kettlebells make an appearance.
Also, Mason ‘The Lime’ Dixon looks a little flabby, and one of the fight announcers makes reference to it saying something along the lines of “Dixon’s not in the best shape we’ve seen him in,” but there’s no other reference. Maybe Tarver didn’t hit the gym hard enough before the film and Sly thought he had to reference the fact.
Paulie’s best line: “What’s the matter, you pissed because they took down your statue?”
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