ROCKY BALBOA

After a dismal box office run Sylvester Stallone decided to bring back his two most popular characters and within a year we saw new installments for both Rambo and Rocky.

Now I thought the Rambo movie was terrible and expected the same of Rocky Balboa. However I've only just got around to watching this movie and was surprised - to my mind it is the best entry in the series since Rocky II. And far from looking silly as the old guy fighting the much younger and fitter opponent, Stallone pulls off this minor miracle and delivers an excellent feel good movie.

Written by and directed by Stallone the film presents the character of Rocky as the slightly punchy, semi illiterate character of the first two films before the series resorted to fantasy. Rocky III was bearable, but the following two films were turkeys with number 4 being a real low point and five being only slightly better.

Somewhere between Rocky 2 and four, the character suddenly became a sophisticate and this didn't work and returning the character to his grim and grey environs in one of the film's biggest strengths. Okay it's all wish fulfillment, popcorn cinema but it's popcorn cinema at its most tasty.


Thankfully this latest movie is a real return to form and the final fight is as exciting as the bouts in the first two movies. At the climax I had tear in my eyes as the underdog came good yet again.

Excellent entertainment. Shame about Rambo, though.