Movie Review - Rocky Balboa

I admit it, I saw it. I don't know that I've seen any Rocky movie in the theatres, instead watching them on video or television. So this would have been the first that I saw in the theatre. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I kinda suspected that it would be about an old man returning to the ring to fight again. Why, I didn't know, but I thought it had something to do with his kid. Almost.

There are some spoilers ahead, so consider yourself warned. The movie opens with the current heavyweight champ Mason Dixon beating the crap out of an opponent. But nobody likes him. Meanwhile, the former champ slogs through life without his beloved Adrienne who had died several years earlier from cancer. And I'll just stop there and let you imagine where it goes from there.

Stallone is Stallone. Always will be. He'll always be Rocky in my book (not Cobra or Rambo or a truck-driving arm-wrestler). Burt Young returns as Paulie and has lost a lot from his glory days as a trainer. But don't call him washed up. Geraldine Hughes stars as the female lead who is Rocky's junior by probably 20 years.

I liked this movie. It wasn't great and the pacing was pretty slow, especially from an action perspective (actual boxing occupied maybe 25-30 minutes). But it kept my interest in that it showed Rocky as a man who was not only old in age, but old in sprit as well. The loss of his wife has taken it's toll on him and it was interesting to watch his journey from brokedown hotel to Vegas. And they did some interesting things from a cinematic standpoint like some duatone and slow-motion cuts in non-action scenes. I'm giving it a "7."