Coming Full Circle

Rating: 8/10 (11 March 2017)

The legend of Rocky Balboa grew out of the harsh streets of Philadelphia, and in this "final" (at the time) installment, that is exactly the place where the tale winds down.
For a basic plot summary, "Rocky V" finds the title character (Sylvester Stallone) having sustained irreversible brain damage after the Drago fight and thus forced into retirement. When Paulie (Burt Young) makes a financial snaffu, the Balboa family loses their fortune and must return to their old living quarters in Philly. While there, Rocky begins training a young, hungry fighter named Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison), while Rocky Jr. (Sage Stallone) struggled to cope with his new environment.
Likely due to a change in direction (Stallone hands the reins back to John Avildson), this film is more like the original than any of the other sequels, from the tone of the drama to the actual locations. This turns out to be a smart move for the franchise, as it allows for a bit of closure (coming full circle) to the overall narrative. It never ceases to amaze me that Stallone was able to keep the Rocky Balboa character so fresh, considering how most of his other film "icons" are anything but.
There are two very hokey situations that you must first get over in order to enjoy this movie:
1. The aging of Rocky Jr. When Rocky leaves for Russia in the fourth film, his son isn't more than 8-9 years old. When Rocky comes back, still sporting the bruises from Drago, his kid is in roughly late middle school. This is a huge continuity issue in order to make other portions of the movie make sense dramatically.
2. Paulie losing all of Rocky's money. Couldn't director Avildson have come up with anything better than that for why the Balboa's have to move back to Philadelphia?
If you can put those concerns in the rear view mirror, though, than there are plenty of themes/moments in this film that will entertain you:
-The Don King clone, which was (is?!) a real issue in boxing during the 1980s and 90s. -The Rocky/Tommy relationship, which is fated for failure right from the get-go but still makes you feel for Rocky since he can no longer physically enter the ring. -The son angle. Rocky tries to "do for" his family to make up for the lost fortune, but eventually realizes that all he needs to do is "do with" them in order to preserve the family unit. -A touching scene at the old gym in which Rocky reminisces about former trainer Mick (Burgess Meredith). Perhaps the greatest single scene in the entire franchise. -Of course, what would a Rocky film be without a fight scene, but in this case it takes place on the streets, not within a squared circle. The drama is palpable in those final minutes.
To me, this film was a fitting end for the Rocky franchise (until, of course, it wasn't once Stallone resurrected the franchise this millennium). A few things don't jive, but by-and-large it still provides the character development and high drama that the Rocky series has come to be known for. For whatever reason, Sly Stallone himself has pretty much stricken this movie from the Rocky "anthology" because of his deep hatred for it, but I don't see the reasoning. I enjoyed it through and through.