A Believable Rocky Film

Rating: 7/10 (26 December 2018)

There are movies that have an unreasonably happy ending, that go out of their way to portray the protagonist as a super hero - for whom the unvierse conspires so that he/she can succeed.
Rocky series of films are not so happy go lucky after all, which has become thier USP of the sorts. For instance we have a very successful Mr. Balboa who blows up everything he has, looses his fancy house, has a son who doesn't want to become a boxer like him and eventually ends up training Creed's son, is now old and frail, fighting his way through cancer.
Sad to see Rocky so vulnerable in this film but this movie is not about him, it is about Creed, who will probably carry Rocky's legacy in more films to come in the future.
While Rocky trains and helps Creed win against Drago's son, he battles his own inner demons - keeping him away from his son.
While Drago still seething about his loss to Rocky, de-humanises his son's training, he comes to terms with his defeat and realizes what's more important to him - his son.
All of this is captured very beautifully in the film. So screenplay is definitely 9/10. Cinematography is 7/10 and acting is 7/10.
Happy watching!