The Rock's final bow

Rating: Null/10 (5 March 2005)

SPOILERS ABOUND!!
The final installment of a film series that arguably should've capped off as a trilogy. Picking up where the last film left off, Rocky has just beaten Russian champ Ivan Drago, but he has began to suffer from the cumulative effects of his fights. A Don King like promoter named George Washington Duke wants Rocky to fight his latest discovery, Union Kane, but Adrienne wants Rocky to retire, fearing for his health. Unfortunately, a crooked accountant has skipped town with Rocky's money, forcing the family to move back to the inner city, a move that creates a rift between Rocky and his son Robert. Rocky takes over the gym where he trained in the first film, and meets a hungry young contender named Tommy Gunn. Rocky decides to train Tommy, and vicariously living through his victories. So at this point it looks like we have Rocky: The Next Generation which is a logical way to end the series. Unfortunately, it takes a turn for the worse. Instead of mirroring the original and building up to a big fight with Kane, Tommy ends up being seduced by the dark side, destroying the progress made with his character at that point. What was once a junior Rocky becomes a clone of Rocky 3 heavy Clubber Lang. We already had Duke as the villain, so making Tommy bad was overkill, and feels kind of like a cheap heat moment. That said, it's an okay end for a film series that probably should've ended two movies ago.