347. Rocky Balboa; movie review

 

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ROCKY BALBOA

Cert 12A

102 mins

BBFC advice: Contains infrequent moderate boxing violence

I am 57 years old and, sadly, I will never again be an award-winning newspaper editor.

It is a simple fact of life that my career Everest is behind me and I have accepted that I need to challenge myself to reach new goals.

This reality must even starker for sportspeople as most reach their zenith in their 20s or, at the latest, 30s.

Ok, there are quirks as record-breaking Bernard Langer proved when, at the age of 63, he finished in a tie for 29th at the US Masters.

But Langer is an exceptional golf player and even he can never win the tournament because he doesn't have the strength to hit the ball as far as younger men.

Indeed, he can only compete because he has kept himself at peak fitness and has maintained high-level sport.

The idea of a former boxer taking to the ring 20 years after his previous fight would be stretching credibility if they were in their 40s but in their 60s??

Belief has to be suspended for Rocky Balboa, the film which Sylvester Stallone wanted to make up for the risible Rocky 5.

Some believe he achieved redemption and, while the back story is more credible, the fight scenes are ludicrous.

This Stallone film sees him as a widower and running a small but successful restaurant where he tells adoring fans boxing tales.

Meanwhile, he has an uneasy relationship with his son (Milo Ventimiglia) who works for a finance company and is embarrassed about the shadow of his famous dad casts.

And still hanging around is his best friend Paulie (Burt Young), who has become sad sozzled drunk.

The spark for a return to the ring comes when boxing pundits produce a computer simulation of a fight between Rocky in his prime and the current champ (Antonio Tarver).

The youngster is getting fed up of such comparisons and not being given the credit he deserves while Rocky barely understand what a computer is.

However, apparently putting aside his brain injury diagnosis and the fact that he hasn't been in a ring in decades, he sees fighting as unfinished business.

Yes, this is the bloke who seemed washed up in 1976 before his first fight with Apollo Creed.

Actually, there are some nice touches to Rocky Balboa - including several big nods to the past.

For example, his first screen opponent, Spider Rico (Pedro Lovell) appears as a diner at his restaurant and Marie (Geraldine Hughes) the 12-year-old girl he protected from herself in the first movie, is tending his old hang-out bar.

Those nuances and Rocky's gradual bonding with his son are what makes this better than the fifth and fourth instalments. The ring scenes take it back two marks. 

Reasons to watch: The last stand of Rocky

Reasons to avoid: Same format as before

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? A Philadelphia writer decided to plot Rocky's run and figure out the exact route he would have needed to take to make his famous running scene possible. Taking the most logical route, the Italian Stallion would have tracked just over 30 miles or 1.16 marathons.

The final word. Sylvester Stallone: "It’s kind of like a cinematic freak of nature, it really is. I knew it was a foolish idea to even think about it a few years ago, so the fact that it’s actually happened is just crazy. But sometimes crazy ideas are worth following." Indie London

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