Rocky Balboa (2006) Review

"You know, I think you try harder when you're scared."
-Rocky Balboa



Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) runs a small restaurant in Philly and is grieving the death of his wife.  The current heavyweight champion of the world, Mason "The Line" Dixon (Antonio Tarver), is not respected in the boxing community because he has never fought a real contender.  When a computer simulated match shows Rocky beating Mason in a fight, Mason challenges Rocky to get in the ring one last time.


What Works:

Sylvester Stallone has always been great as Rocky, but he gets to take the character in a much different direction here.  He's dealing with the death of his wife and a strained relationship with his son.  It's a great performance from Stallone.

I really enjoyed the subplot about the relationship between Rocky and his son (Milo Ventimiglia).  They both do a great job and it's an emotional story.  I love the motivational speech Rocky gives his son and their reconciliation in the graveyard is a powerful moment.

I wasn't very keen on Mason Dixon as a villain at first, but by the end of the movie I realized he isn't really a villain, like we've seen in the previous films.  He's just a guy who is trying to get some respect.  I think he's a little underused, but I like his character arc and it feels like both he and Rocky win the fight and that's a great note to go out on.

Finally, the boxing match itself is nothing short of epic.  I love the way it's filmed and how we get to hear Rocky talking to himself.  This was the first time in the series where I didn't know what the outcome of the fight was going into the movie and that made it all the more exciting.


What Sucks:

The movie takes a little while to get going and a lot of the early stuff is far to nostalgic and sentimental for me.  I don't love it when sequels focus too much on what came before.  I get that that's kinda the point this time around, but I still didn't love it.

Finally, I thought the subplot with Marie (Geraldine Hughes) and Steps (James Francis Kelly III) didn't add much to the film.  I don't really know why they were in the movie.  This was time that could have been better spent elsewhere.


Verdict:

Rocky Balboa is the second best of the Rocky films and a fitting end to the original series.  Stallone and Ventimiglia are great, I like the different type of antagonist, and the 3rd act is incredible.  It's too sentimental for my taste and there is one very unnecessary side-plot, but this movie has definitely got it going on.

 8/10: Really Good 

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