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DokBrowne [ 7.0 ]
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There's some quality stuff in here, like Donnie's first time in the ring filmed in one long snaking shot, Michael B. Jordan getting his highest-billed shot yet to show what a great movie star he could be, Stallone doing pretty good dramatic work AND for once playing to his actual age (that is, not trying to be a 69-year-old action star), and the uplifting spirit of the film, of all "Rocky" films, is still hard to resist. For those reasons it'll probably be remembered more than "Rocky Balboa", though they're both good enough resuscitations of the series.
That said, it's still another "Rocky", with all attendant clichés accounted for. Add another star to the rating if you're a "Rocky" fan-boy, but as a movie it's mostly just passable. It seems better than it is because it's re-arranging all the winning ingredients of the "Rocky" formula, but unlike say "Star Wars", I personally have never been as enamored with Stallone's boxing saga as I was with Lucas' space odyssey, so watching a thinly-veiled remake of the original in 2015 doesn't hold the same magic for me.
There are some solid "Rocky" movies, but there's so little range to all of them that I don't know how people can still go crazy for one by the 7th time. This material gets boring - someone's reluctant to fight, faces adversity when they try to become a fighter, demonstrates inspirational sense of determination during training montages, demonstrates vulnerable heart and sweetness during quiet love story subplot, receives sage metaphorical life lessons from old mentor, goes to the final fight with no one believing he has a chance, flip a coin to decide if he wins or loses but either way he wins over the whole world by not giving up, because taking a beating and not crying about it is the most heroic deed an American man can aspire to, and ends in triumph. That's all that happens here, again, like always. Only Creed Jr. isn't a very complex or engaging personality. He works thanks to Jordan's performance and the built-in affection for Rocky, Apollo, and the whole franchise. His wooing of Tessa Thompson has no spark or soul to it; that whole section of the movie is there just because it's required to be, not because it's crucial to the story or the filmmakers felt they had anything special to do with it.
After "Rocky Balboa" explored his twilight years and laid the franchise to a graceful rest, I guess the moneymakers at MGM had no other logical choice than to reboot the whole thing, and while they do re-tell the 1975 story in 2015 terms with reasonably enjoyable success (though again, Rocky himself was a way more memorable character, and his relationship with Adrian was the secret heart of the movie, so it easily trumps this new contender), it's still an overly obedient copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. My rankings:
1) Rocky
2) Rocky IV
3) Rocky II
4) Creed
5) Rocky Balboa
6) Rocky III
7) Rocky V
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| Weighted Rating | : 6.8 |
| No. Ratings | : 3 | |
| No. Reviews | : 1 | |
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