Gonna fly now

Rating: 7/10 (5 February 2016)

The film Airplane II foresaw the cycle of Rocky films by having a poster of an aged Rocky in Rocky 38. Stallone himself ran out of ideas as to what to do with Rocky by 1990 with the decidedly average Rocky V and ramp up the nostalgia for Rocky Balboa which owed more to boxers like George Foreman coming out of retirement.
It took co-writer and director Ryan Coogler to come up with an angle to continue the franchise, pushing Rocky to a supporting player and concentrating on Adonis Johnson (Michael B Johnson) the illegitimate son of Apollo Creed rescued from a succession of care homes by Apollo's widow.
Despite an affluent lifestyle, Adonis is an angry young man, someone who feels like an outsider and needs to prove himself. Adonis takes up in the underground boxing scene in Mexico however unable to fight in the west coast he makes his way to Philadelphia to persuade Rocky to train him.
The plot is basically a mixture of Rocky & Rocky II. A British world light heavyweight champion who is due to be stripped of his titles and serve time inside sees an opportunity to set up a lucrative fight with an unknown boxer who also happens to be trained by Rocky Balboa and is the son of Apollo Creed. This mirrors the situation when Apollo plucked an unknown opponent to fight for the world title in the original Rocky.
In Philadelphia Rocky and Adonis bond, they get closer as Rocky is struck down by illness and Adonis helps him thought it although Rocky is initially weary of his help.
Coogler goes for a modern urban Philadelphia setting of dinghy gyms, dirt bikes and a multi racial city reflected in the music throughout the film. What Coogler gets right is the beat of the film which rang true in the original. Rocky is again lonely, visiting the grave of his wife and also his brother in law. The restaurant is all he has and Adonis drags him back to the boxing world albeit reluctantly. In essence he is now playing the Mickey role, the grouchy but wise old trainer.
The main fight bizarrely takes place at Goodison Park, home of the soccer club Everton. Will we hear the Rocky theme? Will Gonna Fly Now soar? You bet.
What Ryan Coogler has done is refresh the ingredients, Rocky Balboa is a character that will live on outside of Sylvester Stallone as in future generations Rocky will be re-booted and re-invigorated.
Stallone playing Rocky for the seventh time but for the first time as written by someone else imbues Rocky with inner calm. Here is a character that has become tired of life and sees a chance to become alive again by training Adonis until fate intervenes with a cruel twist.
Michael Jordan bounces back from the Fantastic 4 flop by giving a spirited performance that is also tender and heartfelt.