Descends into farce. A sad entry in the franchise.

Rating: 4/10 (25 April 2020)

I've heard things about this film before viewing but I decided to view it with a clear mind and no misconceptions.
Director duties pass back to original Rocky director John G. Avildsen.
Indeed the screenplay at the start of the film has potential.
Watching the franchise in sequence I noticed some continuity issues in the first twenty minutes.
Rocky's mansion is noticeably different from his residence in parts III and IV.
The story follows an aging Rocky, brain damaged from his bruising bout with Ivan Drago on part IV.
The Balboas also face financial ruin due to their estate being signed over by brother in law Paulie (how) to an accountant who makes a poor decision on the stock market.
Rocky must return to his roots in Philadelphia from part I where he relaunched his only asset. Mickey Goldmill's boxing gym.
He discovers a promising young boxer, Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison - a distant relative of John Wayne) whilst inadvertently neglecting his own troubled son, Rocky Jr. (Sage Stallone).
Meanwhile a Don King like promoter George Duke (Richard Gant) 'steals' the non-contracted Gunn from Rocky's management promising a title shot.
Gunn isn't as commercially popular as Rocky and Duke encourages Gunn to try and fight Rocky.
Rocky is reluctant because of his health problems much to Gunn's anger leading to the infamous street fight.
The film descends into a Cannon Films like 1980s farce with a street fight, yes a street fight between Rocky and Tommy Gunn.
The soundtrack was one of the highlights of part IV. What happened here. Not memorable at all except a montage from previous Rocky films over the end credits.
I can quite honestly say this is by far the weakest in the franchise, comparable to Superman IV and Jaws IV.