The series gets a lot weaker with this one

Rating: 5/10 (1 September 2012)

The Rocky saga continues with Sylvester Stallone in the director's chair again for Rocky III. Keeping with the Rocky formula, Rocky III opens with the end of Rocky II, where Rocky wins the fight against Apollo Creed and claims the heavyweight champion title. We then jump forward three years with the help of your typical Rocky montage where Rocky becomes a huge celebrity and the absolute pride of Philladelphia. However, when a new young challenger comes along, Rocky has no choice but to face him. This challenger? None other than Clubber Lange, played by the infamous Mr. T in his film debut. In the fight Rocky takes a brutal beat down from Clubber, and afterwards looks to former rival, Apollo Creed to train him in order to restore his confidence.
I have to admit, for me, watching a Rocky film is a lot of fun. It's empowering, inspiring, and always seems to be a great experience. But, as much as I enjoy a good Rocky flick I can't deny that Rocky III is a pretty half hearted attempt. It feels shoddily thrown together in an attempt to churn out another run of the mill story. The film's flow seems too sped up and doesn't go deep at all. It has some good heartfelt moments, but overall just feels very phoned in. The Rocky films seem to get progressively more predictable and less original. Rocky III offers up nothing new, and it's where the series redundancy really starts to show. I won't say that the previous two films suffer from the third, but Rocky III is definitely very forgettable.
Of course, the film isn't without a few good things. You can expect to see some of your favorite things about Rocky films in Rocky III. You'll be treated to some great montages, even though this film has a total of three I believe, and for a 100 minute runtime this is sort of overdoing it. We also get to see the characters of Rocky, Adrian, and Apollo grow and mature to continue to be ever fascinating characters. Kudos go to Sylvester Stallone to keeping his characters fresh, it's just a shame he couldn't do the same with the storyline. Also, as with the previous two Rocky films, you can expect a rousing climax in Rocky III. It's inspiring and empowering to watch Rocky fight at the end of the film, and it almost makes you forget how mediocre the rest of the film is.
All in all, don't expect much from Rocky III. It's the weakest of the first three films by a long shot, but if you enjoyed the first two then I would say give this one a shot if you haven't satisfied your Rocky fever quite yet. It's not a disaster, but Rocky III is pretty underwhelming.