Clever switch on the first two films but still is a boxing soap opera

Rating: Null/10 (27 April 2002)

Years after defeating Apollo Creed, Rocky has successfully defended his title 10 times and is living well off commercials, endorsements and his charitable public image. However just off Rocky's radar, a hungry young fighter, Clubber Lang, is winning fight after fight by knock out. Sickened after a charity fight where Rocky takes on a wrestler in a comedy display, Lang challenges Rocky to a fight. Rocky loses his title during the bout and suffers a personal loss. With the help of Apollo Creed, Rocky seeks to get his hungry desire back and retake his title from Lang.
Stallone shows that he can write soap opera easily and quite intelligently. Here the Rocky story is put on it's head and we see him growing old and successful. He is not as urgent and hungry for victory as he once was. This twist makes this more enjoyable than the second film as we get to see what happens to successes when they forget where they came from. In many ways this reflects what must have been going on in Stallone's head as his movie career progressed. It may not be a perfect comparison but it is more interesting than another copy.
The soapy mush of the first two is toned down a bit here and replaced by the struggle to re-find the fire that made Rocky so strong. This way we get to know Rocky better and this journey is more interesting when he has to go back to go forward. At times the story is silly and the fight scenes aren't as good as the previous tow films, although the final fight still carries an emotional, if unrealistic, punch.
Stallone is good, as he seems to bring a lot of himself to the role this time  his experiences have changed as have Rocky's, he uses that. Shire's character has changed well and Young's character is more interesting than before. Mr T is good, at first he is sympathetic because he is the contender, however to make Rocky more popular he has to be really arrogant towards the end. Hulk Hogan makes a silly cameo that goes on to long and Burgess Meredith just seems to be getting more grouchy and wrinkled by the second.
Overall this is good  better than the second. The interest is renewed by the switch in Rocky from underdog to rich success pursued by young contenders. The mushy emotion is toned down and the good elements from the first two films are talked up. Solid.