[6]

The sixth entry in the Rocky franchise is far better than it has any right to be. Sylvester Stallone is back in the writing and directing chairs, presenting a melancholy portrait of a hero fighting against decline. At the film's start, we see the Italian Stallion still reeling from the death of his beloved Adrian two years prior, while trying to maintain a relationship with his estranged son (Milo Ventimiglia). While Rocky tries to break his lonely spell by making friends with a single mother (Geraldine Hughes) and her son (James Francis Kelly III), a TV sports show tries to create a fantasy boxing match between the current heavyweight champion, Mason Dixon (Antonio Tarver) and a past legend, our man Rocky. The idea catches fire, pulling Balboa back into the ring after years of retirement.

Even though Stallone has gone back to the Rocky well a few too many times, this film nevertheless features a well-known and well-loved character entering a new stage in his life. The first hour is strong on nostalgia and character — I dig it. But like all the other Rocky movies, it boils down to a big fight. On one hand, I wish there could be a Rocky movie that doesn’t have to end so predictably, but on the other hand, I dig what Rocky tells all the naysayers in the story — that someone’s gotta be who they are and do what they do, and screw it if people say you’re too old.

Burt Young returns as Rocky’s brother-in-law, Paulie, and composer Bill Conti reprises the celebratory themes that earned him his first Oscar nomination for the original film.