People love comebacks ? Well , not always

Rating: 3/10 (16 November 2013)

The idea of making a fifth movie about Rocky Balboa was very risky. The story was already getting thin with third movie and the forth one is watchable only when you don't take it seriously. This fifth movie reunites Stallone and John Avildsen (The director of original "Rocky") together for the first time since 14 years . After the over the top "Rocky 4" this one was supposed to be a back to the roots. A serious drama.
Unfortunately this movie is a failure. The direction of Avildsen is very cheesy at places (Rocky remembering Mick , the hip hop soundtrack , pathos in the final fight). Most of the problems come from the screenplay. The characters of Rocky , Paulie and Adrian haven't really changed and to watch for the fifth time the same characters acting the same way is just annoying. Not to mention that Stallone . Young and Shire overact in their dramatic scenes here. And "Rocky 5" does feel similar at times to "Rocky 2" (the money problems , becoming an ordinary person once again).
The story on paper looks good , but as a movie it's a cheap morality story about loyalty, greed and father-son relationship. The screenplay isn't subtle with dealing of all those things. It's hard to believe that Rocky would forget about his son so easily and gave everything to Tommy. Sure , I understand why he did it (because he was in that way still fighting on the ring) , but it feels just too convenient. Same goes for his conflict wit Tommy . The whole potential is killed by sappiness and morality preaching. Not to mention the black and white morality. Tommy Gunn is one-dimensional asshole through all the movie . He could be a tragic figure (he's got a troubled past) , but the one dinner talk is just too little . The boxing manager George Duke is also annoyingly one-dimensional villain.
The good things are the funny dialogues and as always the music by Bill Conti. Also , the fight scenes are done well and the movie isn't boring. All in all it's just too little to save this unwanted and unnecessary sequel . Thankfully , "Rocky Balboa" was a great farewell to Rocky. I give it 3/10.