A slicker beast than the first two, but it still makes for great entertainment

Rating: 8/10 (3 November 2016)

Another excellent feel-good film in the ROCKY saga that had showed no signs of slowing down by this stage. In fact, I enjoyed it more than the first film and feel that it comes only just behind the second in terms of pure entertainment. Once again, the story takes a new angle, showing how Rocky's fame has changed his life and also put him out of touch with reality. During the course of the film he loses nearly everything, and is then forced to go on a journey of discovery to try and capture what he's lost. The fight at the climax has an inevitable outcome, but perhaps that's why I was looking forward to it so much.
The actors are wonderful again. Stallone directs himself with aplomb, focusing on another side of his hero this time around: for the first time ever, Rocky finds himself afraid, and must battle to dispel that fear. Talia Shire and Burt Young don't have much to do, but they provide the stable backbone that Rocky himself requires. Burgess Meredith is excellent once again as the sympathetic Mickey, and Carl Weathers' Apollo Creed undergoes a significant and appealing character shift that sees him switch sides from enemy to ally. Mr. T is so tough as the bad guy Clubber Lang that he's almost a caricature of himself, but that doesn't stop him being thoroughly entertaining, and he's matched by a hulking Hulk Hogan in a brief, crazed turn as an over the top wrestler.
The film is well made, has great music – the old favourites as well as new hit Eye of the Tiger – and the training sequences are as fun as ever. The boxing matches are slicker and more stylised than before, but no less enthralling, while Stallone's careful to keep the human drama as his first priority as always. As a result, this is another great film in the series.