Rocky Balboa (2006)

Sylvester Stallone
Burt Young
Milo Ventimiglia
Antonio Tarver
Geraldine Hughes

Directed by Sylvester Stallone

Plot: Former heavyweight champion Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) steps out of retirement and back into the ring, pitting himself against a new rival decades after his initial glory. When a computer simulated boxing match declares Rocky Balboa the victor over current champion Mason "The Line" Dixon, the legendary fighter's passion and spirit are reignited. But when his desire to fight in small, regional competitions is trumped by promoters calling for a rematch of the cyber-fight, Balboa must weigh the mental and physical risks of a high profile exhibition match against his need to be in the ring.

Review: I was always a huge fan of the Rocky films. Although 5 was a bad movie I still think it had a kick ass fight at the end. When I heard they were making one last film, I found myself feeling like a kid again and got excited.

To my dismay, I was pretty disappointed in this film. Not because it sucked, it didn’t, but it lacked the one major thing the others had, a fight. Yes there is a fight in this and I know they were trying to shoot it like a real fight you would see on tv, but it wasn’t a Rocky fight. There are two things you can count on in a Rocky film, a good fight and a kick ass training sequence. This movie had neither. The training sequence was cool, but only lasted maybe 5 minutes. The fight was just horrible, with bad choreography and no drama to it at all. The upside to this movie is the story. The story itself is great. I enjoyed everything about it, but it is part of the build up to the fight, which lets us down. I loved the ending and felt it was more believable and perfect cap on the Rocky franchise. This movie had the vibe of the original, but fell short. Be warned the training and fight sequence only last about 30 minutes of this movie. Overall I didn’t hate the movie, but it did not live up to what I have come to expect from Rocky and what it could have been.
 

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