I am not a big fan of sequels, so I didn’t really envision myself watching the sixth installment of the Rocky franchise. I loved the first movie, and even thought the fourth one was pretty decent. But Rocky V is probably one of the worst films out there (even Sylvester Stallone himself thinks so) and I couldn’t imagine what would compel anyone to extend the series even further. Nevertheless, Stallone got the financial banking for Rocky Balboa, so here we are.

The film takes place several years after the events of Rocky V, and everyone has aged accordingly. Rocky is now a widower who runs a restaurant named after Adrian. He comes off as the stereotypical washed-up pro athlete, going from table to table telling the same fight stories from his glory days as the heavyweight champion of the world. Even his son Robert Jr. (played by Milo Ventimiglia) is embarrassed of what Rocky has become.

Things progress slowly in the first half of the movie, as Stallone’s script focuses on Rocky’s current life rather than his fighting prospects. We see how he still grieves for Adrian and visits her grave daily. We see how desperately he wants Robert Jr. to include him in his life. And we see him develop a relationship with a single mom named Marie (Geraldine Hughes) and her son Steps (James Francis Kelly III).

The movie picks up the pace when ESPN airs a computer simulated boxing match between Rocky in his prime and the current heavyweight champ, Mason Dixon (Antonio Tarver). The computer predicts that Rocky would have won, and that generates a lot of controversy and interest in the boxing community. Mason Dixon’s promoters feel that they can capitalize on this interest by setting up a match between Rocky and the champ with a percentage of the proceeds going to charity. Their man needs an image boost and Rocky’s looking to fight again, so this works out for everyone.

From that point on, we get the training and fighting scenes that you’d expect from this kind of movie. And then we get a pretty satisfying ending to what was, on the whole, a surprisingly watchable movie.

My Reaction: Once I got past how freaky and overly-Botoxed Sylvester Stallone’s face looked, I found that I actually enjoyed Rocky Balboa. It wasn’t original or anything (what sixth part of a series could be??) but I liked the angle that Stallone took with the script and I liked how we were treated to several great scenes from the previous Rocky films. It helped tie everything together and bring closure to the whole series (hopefully — maybe the success of this movie will lead to Rocky VII?).

I have to hand it to Stallone: he’s in awesome shape for a 61-year-old guy. I mean, he actually looked cut during the fight scenes and I read that there’s actual contact in all of those scenes. The actors aren’t swinging and missing; they’re actually hitting, which definitely must have taken its toll. But the hard work paid off because those fight scenes look cool.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by Rocky Balboa. If you liked any of the previous Rocky films, then you’ll probably enjoy this one as well. I give it 3 stars out of 5.