rocky balboa
So we saw Rocky Balboa last Friday Night, and I know what you’re thinking, because everyone is thinking exactly what you’re thinking. Honestly though, this is a pretty good movie, certainly a much better finish for the series than Rocky V. The script is self-aware and everyone maintains a decent sense of humor throughout. The Big Fight is realistically low-key and not really the point of the movie. There’s one or two heavy monologues in there and a couple of cheesy Adrian moments, but there’s something about Rocky’s character that makes it all work pretty nicely.
Also, Stallone is in unbelievable shape here, to the point where it’s really worth devoting a few extra sentences to discuss. There’s an awesome montage where Rocky lifts everything from beer kegs to iron chains, and washes it all down with a few raw eggs. It’s hard to pull off a good montage these days, and I really enjoyed this one. Rocky’s opponent, Mason “The Line” Dixon, is played by real life light heavyweight world champion Antonio Tarver. By the time all the training is done and the fighters step into the ring, Stallone looks like he could snap Tarver in half like a dry twig. He’s large, is what you should take away from this paragraph.
So I do recommend this one. It’s a nice little diversion and might just help remove the aura of cheap parody that the later Rocky movies inspired. Stick around for the closing credits, which show all kinds of people, young and old, big and small, running up the famous steps to impersonate Balboa. That, I think, is the real legacy of the Rocky movies. It’s a truly American story, perfectly summarized in that one iconic moment. I’m glad that Rocky Balboa is a good enough movie that audiences won’t end the series on a groan.
Incidentally, I’m not sure about where you live, but our local theater clearly had no idea what kind of trailers to put in front of this movie. Comedies? Evan Almighty. Guilty pleasures? Transformers. Moving period piece? Amazing Grace. Undoubtedly terrible movie with a title so ill-conceived that, I am not kidding you, it made the entire theater laugh out loud? This one.
Blood and Chocolate? You have no idea how badly I wanted to find a link that didn’t feature the title, so that you could experience, as I did, the hysterical surprise of sitting through a Don Lafontaine narrated sci-fi trailer that ends with the dramatic rumble: BLOOD. AND. CHOCOLATE.
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