Blunt force trauma.
I'm excited about Rocky Balboa. Maybe this is just a signifier of my generation. I don't know any college-age people who are fired up over a 60 year old Rocky. Then again, I don't know anyone who is fired up for this movie.
Truth is, I don't know why I'm excited.
Thinking back, I remember watching Rocky II on television when I was a kid, and having to beg my parents to let me stay up to see who won the fight. When Rocky and Apollo fell at the same time, I was screaming. When Rocky climbed to his feet, I went to bed feeling this amazing sense of joy. Maybe I want to relive that feeling.
Rocky III didn't give me the same feeling. Rocky IV is laughable now, but in the 1980s, it really resonated. And hey, it's better than Superman IV. Then they did Rocky V, which is written in the language of "Go For It," which I will not utter here.
Growing up in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Rocky was an icon. The last Rocky film came out in 1990, and it was awful. Now, more than 15 years later, Rocky is back, and while I was apprehensive and skeptical at first, I was intrigued after watching the trailer. Maybe Stallone, the man who invented the character in the first place, knows what he's doing this time.
Entertainment Weekly gave it a B.
Rolling Stone gave it 2.5 of 4 stars.
The Hollywood Reporter doesn't give grades, but it's positive.
Overall, Rocky Balboa doesn't look ridiculous, even though the idea of a sixth Rocky movie starring a 59 year old Sylvester Stallone seems pretty ridiculous by itself. The trailer doesn't indicate something awful. It seems like a fitting end, in the true spirit of the film that was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and the won for Best Picture and Best Director in 1976, beating films like Taxi Driver, All The President's Men, and Network. (I thought it had won for Best Original Screenplay, but I was wrong there. The screenplay was among the 10 nominations, though.)
Rocky is just a great American film. Rocky Balboa seems like another one, though it might just be adequate (and I'll take that). I'll know Wednesday night for sure.
Truth is, I don't know why I'm excited.
Thinking back, I remember watching Rocky II on television when I was a kid, and having to beg my parents to let me stay up to see who won the fight. When Rocky and Apollo fell at the same time, I was screaming. When Rocky climbed to his feet, I went to bed feeling this amazing sense of joy. Maybe I want to relive that feeling.
Rocky III didn't give me the same feeling. Rocky IV is laughable now, but in the 1980s, it really resonated. And hey, it's better than Superman IV. Then they did Rocky V, which is written in the language of "Go For It," which I will not utter here.
Growing up in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Rocky was an icon. The last Rocky film came out in 1990, and it was awful. Now, more than 15 years later, Rocky is back, and while I was apprehensive and skeptical at first, I was intrigued after watching the trailer. Maybe Stallone, the man who invented the character in the first place, knows what he's doing this time.
Entertainment Weekly gave it a B.
Rolling Stone gave it 2.5 of 4 stars.
The Hollywood Reporter doesn't give grades, but it's positive.
Overall, Rocky Balboa doesn't look ridiculous, even though the idea of a sixth Rocky movie starring a 59 year old Sylvester Stallone seems pretty ridiculous by itself. The trailer doesn't indicate something awful. It seems like a fitting end, in the true spirit of the film that was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and the won for Best Picture and Best Director in 1976, beating films like Taxi Driver, All The President's Men, and Network. (I thought it had won for Best Original Screenplay, but I was wrong there. The screenplay was among the 10 nominations, though.)
Rocky is just a great American film. Rocky Balboa seems like another one, though it might just be adequate (and I'll take that). I'll know Wednesday night for sure.