Disappointing compared to the first two, but still entertaining showing Rocky hasn't run out of steam yet.

Rating: 6/10 (8 September 2010)

Rocky III starts of tremendously with a marvellous montage of where Rocky II left with his rematch fight with Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) as Rocky (Stallone) has become the heavyweight champion of the world. The montage shows Rocky with his career growing over five years as we see him defending his title ten times undefeated. Cut to his new life. He and his wife Adrian and along with there son have moved to an even bigger house with Rocky suddenly maturing (wearing suits). He is enjoying the high-life. He decides to retire but new boxer climbing through the ranks Clubber Lang (Mr.T) challenges Rocky to defend his title, he agrees after Clubber taunts him, but he loses his title as his coach Mickey dies of a heart attack (Buregess Meredith). Rocky feels he has a lost apart of himself but with help from an unexpected friend Creed trains Rocky to reclaim his title from Lang.
This is an entertaining third movie in the series and is about twenty minutes shorter. The tone of the third has changed from the first two. Rocky III now just concentrates on more the boxing and as a result Talia Shire as Adrian (whilst her acting is still good and she looks better than ever) her role is severely reduced where she now just appears in most scenes without talking. Though on the beach she gives her husband a passionate speech. Also Rocky Junior dosen't get much screen time, so you don't feel a bond between the family and as a result you lose the most of the touching and heartwarming moments that were apparent in the first two and that is where I felt Rocky III went wrong. Also the story isn't much different and it's started to feel slightly repetitive with the script feeling old-school now.
However Stallone delivers a great performance again and so does Burgess Meredith in his unfortunately last appearance as Micky with a heartbreaking moment when he passes away. Mr. T as Clubber Lang makes a fearsome challenge with a delightful evil performance by him. One thing I did like was that Carl Weathers as Creed (who plays his part well) has a bigger role in this one. You see him and Rocky start to bond as they become friends and that was nice to see. The end fight was well done and entertaining but it wasn't as exciting or inspirational as the first two. However Rocky III is an impressive instalment for a third movie and hopefully the fourth in the series can do just as well or better.