Gonna fly nowReview by Vives Anunciacion
Written, Directed and starring Sylvester Stallone
PG 13/ 102 minutes
20th Century Fox/ Columbia Pictures/ Revolution Studios/ MGM
*** (3 stars)
Rocky Balboa is saying goodbye. Hats off, sir, and thank you for doing it.
Rocky is old but he isn’t tired. In fact when a computer simulation pits the old-time champ with the current heavyweight champ, Rocky finds himself compelled to move the few stuff still left “in da basement.”
In Rocky Balboa, a TV show simulates a fight between Rocky and the current but unpopular heavyweight champion, Mason Dixon (boxing athlete Antonio Tarver) where the aging people’s champion emerges as the winner. The simulation intrigues both camps, resulting in a scheduled 10-round exhibition game in Las Vegas.
The fight, just like the movie’s concept, sounds like a joke – but it’s actually the centerpiece of the movie. Stallone wants Rocky VI to be the ultimate underdog movie – we think we believe that Rocky is too old a story and Stallone too old an actor to portray a combatant. Stallone, like Rocky (there is no distinction between the two) begs to differ. And just like in the old Rocky movies, he sweats it out and throws punches to prove that it’s never too late to try again.
Some characters are back and some actors return to reprise their roles, most importantly Burt Young, who plays Paulie again (Rocky’s best friend and manger) with such sincerity that he doesn’t have to act to say he is. In this movie people don’t hide the wrinkles on their faces, and the streets are cracked and dark. The beauty of Rocky Balboa is that it is shamelessly nostalgic, and for viewers familiar with its background it is one sentimental trip. Rocky’s mornings are long and his nights longer, as he begins and ends each day visiting the ghosts of his past. He misses his departed wife Adrian dearly.
Yes the movie has its corny setups and yes it has its obligatory crying moments and big speeches. And at some point the boxing match was in fact implausibly exciting. But that’s because Rocky VI is a throwback to the old Rocky days when people were still inspired by simple words and humility and not by bombast and computer effects. Such is the significance of the bar scene where a young patron talks disrespectfully to the champ, compared to the way older people of Philadelphia regard the icon. Rocky belongs to the age when glory was earned through sweat and tears, when the word still held its meaning and not aided by bling.
Simple, sincere and heartfelt, Rocky Balboa shows the most romantic meaning of being a champ – the one that means win or lose, people will still run up those famous steps and raise their arms just like he did, with Bill Conti’s music in the background. Way to go.
Written, Directed and starring Sylvester Stallone
PG 13/ 102 minutes
20th Century Fox/ Columbia Pictures/ Revolution Studios/ MGM
*** (3 stars)
Rocky Balboa is saying goodbye. Hats off, sir, and thank you for doing it.
Rocky is old but he isn’t tired. In fact when a computer simulation pits the old-time champ with the current heavyweight champ, Rocky finds himself compelled to move the few stuff still left “in da basement.”
In Rocky Balboa, a TV show simulates a fight between Rocky and the current but unpopular heavyweight champion, Mason Dixon (boxing athlete Antonio Tarver) where the aging people’s champion emerges as the winner. The simulation intrigues both camps, resulting in a scheduled 10-round exhibition game in Las Vegas.
The fight, just like the movie’s concept, sounds like a joke – but it’s actually the centerpiece of the movie. Stallone wants Rocky VI to be the ultimate underdog movie – we think we believe that Rocky is too old a story and Stallone too old an actor to portray a combatant. Stallone, like Rocky (there is no distinction between the two) begs to differ. And just like in the old Rocky movies, he sweats it out and throws punches to prove that it’s never too late to try again.
Some characters are back and some actors return to reprise their roles, most importantly Burt Young, who plays Paulie again (Rocky’s best friend and manger) with such sincerity that he doesn’t have to act to say he is. In this movie people don’t hide the wrinkles on their faces, and the streets are cracked and dark. The beauty of Rocky Balboa is that it is shamelessly nostalgic, and for viewers familiar with its background it is one sentimental trip. Rocky’s mornings are long and his nights longer, as he begins and ends each day visiting the ghosts of his past. He misses his departed wife Adrian dearly.
Yes the movie has its corny setups and yes it has its obligatory crying moments and big speeches. And at some point the boxing match was in fact implausibly exciting. But that’s because Rocky VI is a throwback to the old Rocky days when people were still inspired by simple words and humility and not by bombast and computer effects. Such is the significance of the bar scene where a young patron talks disrespectfully to the champ, compared to the way older people of Philadelphia regard the icon. Rocky belongs to the age when glory was earned through sweat and tears, when the word still held its meaning and not aided by bling.
Simple, sincere and heartfelt, Rocky Balboa shows the most romantic meaning of being a champ – the one that means win or lose, people will still run up those famous steps and raise their arms just like he did, with Bill Conti’s music in the background. Way to go.
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