"Time takes everybody out."

Rating: 6/10 (16 January 2016)

Spin-off of the Rocky franchise (or seventh film in the series, since Sylvester Stallone reprises his role in this one) has Apollo Creed's son Adonis "Donnie" Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) turning to Rocky Balboa for training. Basically what we have here is the same old Rocky formula, updated for today with a few cosmetic changes. The biggest thing working against this is the familiarity, but I admit that might only factor in with those who are fans of the previous films. Had Stallone not revisited Rocky a decade ago, this would be much more impactful for me. As it is, there is this feeling that they're going back to the well again in an attempt to revive the franchise with young blood. Nothing wrong with that but it does make the movie less effective and hard to see as anything other than another sequel.
Michael B. Jordan continues to be unimpressive to me, particularly with emotional scenes. He isn't bad just not worthy of the constant praise I see for this young man, heralding him as one of the next big stars. Sylvester Stallone easily steals the film in his signature role. It's no surprise that most of the acting props for the film seem to be going his way. Nothing in this really stretches his abilities but he does what he does well. Tessa Thompson is the film's other standout as Jordan's love interest. She's lovely and gives a subtle, relatable performance. Jordan could learn a thing or two from his co-star while he's busy glowering all the time.
The climactic fight is not terribly exciting (a cardinal sin for a boxing film) and the villain is forgettable. I appreciate they gave him his own story to make us care more going into the fight but the guy playing him is neither charismatic nor particularly interesting. As with the last two Rocky films, they went with a real boxer as the antagonist and, while this may make them better suited for the fight scenes, it doesn't do much for the film overall as they bring nothing to the table a good stuntman can't bring. Get an actor for the villain next time, please. Preferably one who looks like he's seen the inside of a gym as this guy looked pathetic.
If you're a Rocky fan, you'll likely enjoy it as it carries the formula well and does credit to the previous films. It's nothing really new past the surface changes but that isn't always a deal-breaker. If you're someone who has never seen a Rocky movie (particularly the first or last), then you'll probably find this a far more impressive achievement than it really is. It's a good crowd-pleaser of a movie but nothing more substantial than that.