Rocky Balboa

Category: Sports  |  Tags: rocky balboa inspirational uninventive sports

posted by: sproque 254 days ago          

“Rocky Balboa:” Inspirational yet Uninventive

“Rocky Balboa” is a crowd-pleasing and inspirational film about following your dreams, achieving your best, and not letting anybody push you around. Rocky (Sylvestor Stallone) for the last time puts on the gloves and enters the ring, proving to himself and to his brother-in-law Paulie (Burt Young) that he’s still got something left in the 50+ year old tank. Rocky’s wife Adrian is dead for a few years and Rocky struggles emotionally throughout the film while coping her loss. Her memory helps drive him through the grueling bout.
Stallone wrote, directed, and stars in this film, and after seeing many of his movies, I can really tell this film was personal and is a good representation of the person that Stallone is. He is a positive and inspirational force. He warns his son that the world is cruel, and he has to stand up for himself to be somebody. He scolds the boxing commission to do the right thing by granting him a boxing license. He persuades his mentor/love interest Marie (Geraldine Hughes) to leave behind an old trashy bar and work in his restaurant. The movie is powerful in these regards. In a world of insecurity, corruption, and despair, Rocky is a shining light. He encourages everybody he’s around, he doesn’t let anybody push him around, and he proves to himself he can still fight another round.
Stallone uses a lot of handheld camera shots in the movie, and I couldn’t help but think of NBC’s “The Office.” This modernized style made the film feel a little to unsteady, and as a result did not capture the authenticity of the original. Though it was wintertime in Philadelphia, the modernized filming techniques, overplayed soundtrack, and heavy editing took away the cold crispness of the season. The original “Rocky” was so good because the viewer could vicariously experience the coldness of Rocky’s world, and his witty commentary was refreshing. In this film, Rocky has plenty of witty lines, but they are not as effective as they are in the original because of these reasons.
Paulie is as disgruntled and mean as ever after thirty years since the original. He is still working at the meat factory, and is the main motivation for Rocky to get back into the ring. He overacted a little bit, but at the same time expressed himself as a deep and emotional character. For instance, he confessed concerning how poorly he treated his sister by telling Rocky, “you treated her good, and I treated her bad.” This line says a lot about the two characters. Rocky treated her good, and is therefore rewarded with success and fame. Paulie treated her bad, and is cursed with a job as a meat packer.
Antonio Tarver plays the opposing boxer named Mason “the line” Dixon. He is portrayed as a stereotypical African American (hip hop music follows his every step), and he was relatively underdeveloped as a character. He lacks the charisma of Apollo Creed (“Rocky”) and the commanding presence of the Russian from the fourth film. He is seen very little in the film up until the fight, but was convincing enough when the fighting commenced.
“Rocky Balboa” is a truly inspirational film. It lacks the freshness of the first film, but what more can be expected from a sixth installment? Stallone is as buff as ever, and the ending fight is entertaining. The story is pretty simple but the message is good: “don’t let anybody stop you from attaining your dream.” A rant from Stallone is always good. The audience is expecting him to stay something really stupid because he looks and sounds like a [profanity removed] , but he says profound things. Rocky is the ultimate underdog. Even though he is a success, he doesn’t get respect. What he lacks in stature, brains, and charm, he makes up for in genuineness of heart. The “rags to riches” idea is as old as story itself, but it is still very effective. “Rocky Balboa” is not the most well-crafted film you’ll see, but is definitely one of the most inspiring.
Three stars. PG for some language and boxing violence