Rocky III

I don't know what you want me to say. I mean, what happened? How did everything that was so good get so bad? *** This review contains spoilers *** Rocky is reigning World Champion and is dispatching all comers to his crown with ease. But looming in the distance is Clubber Lang, a young and hungry boxer intent on becoming the new champ. Pretty safe enjoyment for anyone into the fantastical world of Sly Stallone's Rocky Balboa franchise. Into the narrative this time comes a new boxer, portrayed with relish by Mr. T, a revelation that cuts Rocky to the quick, and personal grief when his mentor and friend Mickey (Burgess Meredith) dies (Stallone doing brilliant believable grief). Back comes Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed, only this time he wants to train Rocky to beat the mighty Clubber Lang. Rocky's heart isn't in it though! Can he get that Eye of the Tiger back? Well of course he can and thus we get the obligatory training montages and a ferocious fight to crown the story. It's comfortable film making with comfortable acting performances and it's often very exciting as well. 7/10

OK, fair play would have to say that Rocky I and II were better films... but this had Mr. T in it and given that he was one of my childhood favorites I feel horrible not giving it 10 of 10. It was a decent film and Mr. T does a great bad guy (even though the kid in me hates to see him in a villainous role). And we get Action Jackson back, which always makes it feel like a Rocky film. Where this differs from I and II is in the characters... they don't take much time to develop them further. The plot is centered almost entirely around the fight and that kind of makes me miss the depth of the first two... however, it is just as inspiring, it is just as motivating, and in a way that only Rocky films can really pull off. And again we get to see Rocky as the perpetual underdog that has to fight and struggle and only rises to the top through will power and hard work... and that, the concept of a hero that has to struggle, is missed in modern movies.