Rocky Balboa Film Review

When people think of iconic film franchises they more then likely look at all of the big well known franchises like Star Wars or Marvel for example. Yet there's one franchise that alot of people barely think about yet it's also one that really is still going strong to this very day with a successful spin-off series of movies in the Creed films and so then join me as I review the film that sees an ageing boxer come of retirement for one last fight with the film in question being called simply just "Rocky Balboa" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when a computer simulation shows him winning a fight against the then current boxing champion Rocky has to decide if he wants to get in the ring one last time and take on the champ for real. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with this films plot being one that is still relevant to this day as it's about someone getting back in there and doing the thing that he does best and when the film focuses on that aspect of it's plot that's when it gets to be more interesting with the rest of the films plot like Rocky still trying to get over the death of his wife not really working as while yes it does add to his character it also adds nothing to the plot of the film and yet the film still devotes alot of screen time to it and while yes this films plot could be seen as being weak which is something that would be a fair argument to make it is also something that could be said for alot of the Rocky films as well as this films plot does deal quite alot on the aged performer wondering if he can still go in the boxing ring and if he still has the impact that he once has back in his heyday with this being where the film does shine as it is something that you do see alot of performers struggle to deal with and yet it's something that they never let us see as there putting on an act with the plot of this film being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is this films writer and director Sylvester Stallone as Robert "Rocky" Balboa and Burt Young as Paulie Pennino. Also starring in this film is Antonio Tarver as Mason "The Line" Dixon , Milo Ventimiglia as Robert Balboa Jr. , Geraldine Hughes as Marie , James Francis Kelly III as Stephenson , Tony Burton as Tony "Duke" Evers , Henry G. Sanders as Martin , Pedro Lovell as Spider Rico and Jacob "Stitch" Duran as Himself.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With all of this film actors turning in some really good performances in this film which is something that's not really all that surprising as alot of this films are not only A) really good actors in there own right but re also B) reprising their roles from the previous films and therefor would have a really good understanding of there character in the first place with it being helped by the fact that Sylvester Stallone created this franchise and it's characters and has been in every single one of the Rocky films therefor he would have the best knowledge of this films characters and would be able to give the films actors the best advice on how best to perform them something which he wouldn't need to do with the returning characters but would need to do with the films new actors and it is something that does help to make the acting in this film be all that more better then what it really had any right to be with the best actor in the film being Sylvester Stallone himself as he does slip so easily back into the role and Rocky with it being easy to see the character alot of the time this is despite the fact that the actor has eclipsed the character interms of popularity with the acting that's inn this film really being helped by the fact that the script for this film is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Look to be blunt alot of this films characters be they returning or newly introduced aren't as well thought out as they could have been this is of course not true for the films title character tho. As alot of this films characters especially the newer characters don't have anything about them that makes them interesting which granted does make them more real as characters but it also makes them feel alot less interesting as well with the only exception to this being Rocky himself who does have to deal with the fact that he's not as young as he once and the fact that this fight could end up costing him his life with him also having to deal with the fact that the relationship with his son Robert has become strained over the years something which both characters do have to try and over come and yet there the only interesting characters in the film as they have things about them that make them interesting them interesting with the rest of the films characters not really being all that interesting with this being due to the fact that the film doesn't do anything with them other then either be the side characters to Rocky or in the case of Mason be the films villains who doesn't get that much screen time devoted to him in the first place an yet when this film does do something interesting with it's characters be it Rocky and his beef with his son or Mason just trying to earn respect from the boxing world that's when the film gets to be interesting as it's something that does show us the audience that the makers of this film still know how to make a good Rocky movie in the first place and aren't just willing to replay all of the hits something they very easily could have done.

Speaking of doing more then playing the hits that's all that this film does feel like that it's doing alot of the time. As there are alot of scenes and flashbacks to the previous movies which is something that does make alot of sense as this is the sixth film in a franchise but at the same time given the large gap between Rocky V and this film and the fact that this film was billed as being the final Rocky film they are of course going to have alot of people who perhaps didn't grow up watching these movies coming to see this one and having alot of scenes that tie this film back to the first one is something that could be seen as homework something which would put alot of people of as no one would want to do alot of homework just understand one scene in this film and while it is understandable that they would have alot of nods and call backs to the previous Rocky films it's also something that they should have been very careful with doing as if they do to much then they risk alienating any potential new fans but if they don't do enough then they risk making the fans of the films unhappy as well and while this film does do a bit to many of the call backs there not really anything that effect the film but they are things that shouldn't have been in the film in the first place as alot of them are things that could have been said and not shown and heck with the Marie character they literally have her say thar she's already met Rocky when she was young whilst replaying a scene from the first film with her character meeting Rocky which is just pointless as all the visuals are doing is just confirming something that the character is already saying in the first place and heck even this films composer Bill Conti only composed one new theme for the movie that being the theme for Marie with the rest of the films score being made up of previous scores from the other Rocky movies.

Whilst the Rocky movies really has only ever had one villain that being Ivan Drago from Rocky IV here they do somewhat try to have another villainous character in the shame of Mason "The Line" Dixon. Who is the current heavyweight boxing champion and has been steamrolling through his opponents so much so that he's not really gaining any respect from people from within the boxing world as none of his fights last all that long which is something that does lead to challenge Rocky to a fight and while Mason is a decent character with the whole just wanting respect aspect of his character being something that could be interesting if it's done right however in this film it's not really done right as the film doesn't give his character alot of focus as the films spends more time with Rocky and in giving us anther highly quotable speech this time about life when it could have used that time to make Mason seem like a credible villain as the really the only thing that we know about him is the fact that none of his fights last that long and that's it which isn't really enough t make us care about him as a character as we don't get to see other ides to his characters like why does he want respect from others in the boxing world so badly why does this matter to him so much so that he's willing to challenge a retired boxer to an exhibition fight in the first place we know why Rocky is accepting the fight as he wants to prove to himself that he can still go in the ring but why is Mason issuing the challenge in the first place this is something could have made the character be alot more interesting then he already is and it's something that would made us the audience care for him alot more then we do in the film.

To give the film some form of credit it does know when to play alot of the hits and do so in ways that will make them more effective then what they otherwise might have been. Case in point the main Rocky theme as it would have been very easy to have that piece of music play other the films opening titles and have it be a way to get us the audience back into this world and that would have made total sense but rather the film has it play over a training montage which is something that does make sense as it makes the training montage seem all the more epic and be all the more impressive which is something that does make sense as this franchise has always had some really well made montages in them in the first place with this films montage being of no exception to that as it will always be cool seeing Rocky train for a fight in a way that the other fight with Rocky using old school more unorthodox training methods whilst Mason uses more traditional methods of training which is something that does make the fight all the more interesting as we have gotten the chance to see each character train using old school ways like going out for a run every day and drinking eggs with the Rocky theme helping to hit home just how far each foe is willing to in there training with the only thing that could have made that montage be all the more better was if they used "Eye Of The Tiger" as that song is more well known for being in the Rocky films and is something that would have made sense if it was used in this film as it is a really good song in it's own right and yet for one reason or another the makers of this film chose to just use the classic Rocky theme song which is a good song and is something that does still work in the final film.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and forty one minuets and forty six seconds. Which is a really solid running time and given the fact that the film does have alot of stuff to cover it's surprising that the film got through as much as it did in that short amount of running time with the film having the right amount of plot there in the first place to cover that amount of running time however this film really doesn't use it's running time as well it could have done as the film doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot with the films plot being one that does come across as being undercooked when it would have made the film all the more better if there was alot more focus something which t could have done just by telling us things like why Mason wants this fight in the first place and why Rocky is so hung up on the past and yet in saying this tho the film does have some really good character development with Rocky himself being a good example of this as due to him being famous he often overshadows his son and yet over the course of the film his son has to learn that his dad isn't trying to overshadow him and is just trying to his best by his son with the two eventually coming to terms with each other in what can best be described as a really great scene where Rocky explains to Robert just how hard life is in the first place with that being something that does show you that even tho they barely see each other Rocky really does care about his son and his son does care about him and will do anything for him something which while he doesn't get the chance to show that aspect of his character is something that you can see as it's written all over his face alot of the time but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a drama that really does mean that I have to actually talk abut the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With this film really knowing on when to give us some really good drama and when it does so it's drama that is not only really well written but is also character driven which is something that does make it feel like things that these characters would say and do in the first place and because of that the films drama dies come across as being all the more better because of that fact with the best piece of drama in the whole film being the films third act fight as while it would have been very easy to say that this film is an action film due to it's fight scene at the end everything leading up to that fight is something that does make it a drama with the third act fight being where everything does come to a head and while it would have been super easy for the makers of this film to have Rocky when the fight the fact that they didn't do that and still have him come out as this respected person does show that sometimes the underdog doesn't win and that sometimes the person that people will think will win ends up winning and the fact that Rocky still walks out of that fight grinning from ear to ear does show that the makers of this film understood what to do with the film as for Rocky it was never about winning the fight it was about proving that he could go the distance one more time with the rest of the films drama being really good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall while the Creed films have carried the torch for the Rocky franchise and rightfully so as it would be weird seeing an older Sylvester Stallone still doing fights in these films this film did a really good job of ending Rocky's story whilst also keeping it open for other films to happen in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 19 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally sued in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.