Rocky at its most basic...

Rating: 6/10 (17 March 2019)

This film really doesn't have much subtext. Whereas the first film is about defending the American dream, and the second film was about male anxiety over changing gender roles this one is about what it is to tell a Rocky story. The charity fight with Hulk Hogan is a clever bit of screenwriting that functions as a meta-commentary. I mean Lang is just a heel after all. But the story is far too stripped down and focused on the fights.
Of note Adrian is given basically nothing to do with in this film. There really isn't any marriage struggle in this film; even Rocky's conflict of being afraid is too fight focused. That is really too bad. Add in that the most emotional sequence-Mickey's fate-is used to fuel Rocky's underdog status and the film utterly lacks the emotional strength of the better Rocky films.
Lang is a poor substitute for Apollo and without the self-awareness of the wrestling match the character wouldn't work. Mr. T is just awful, even by his standards, in this film. He almost sinks the film. But Mr. T is very good at the stunt work. These are some of the most brutal fights in the series.
The best part of the film, and why it is still entertaining, is Apollo. Turning Creed into a frenemy was good move and it set up the Creed films (eventually) quite nicely. Weathers gives a great personable performance here and he saves the film.
This film is really transitional. It doesn't have the blue collar feel of the 1st two films. It doesn't quite have the operatic feel of the 4th Rocky, or Rocky Balboa. An entertaining film but the material feels tired and spent.