Movie Notes: Rocky III

June 2nd, 2008

= 3 stars

Starring Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Mr. T
Directed by Sylvester Stallone

Synopsis

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), soft from celebrity, loses his heavyweight title to the extremely pissed off Clubber Lang (Mr. T). After his trainer Mickey’s death, Rocky enlists his former adversary, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) to help him reclaim the title.

The Good

• Mr. T is awesomely campy as the motor-mouthed tough guy, spouting crazy talk, and sporting a mohawk and feathered earrings. His presence is welcome, if only so Rocky can box someone other than Apollo Creed.
• The death of Rocky’s trainer, Mickey (Burgess Meredith) provides some pathos, and Rocky also gets a talking to from his wife, Adrian (Talia Shire). Rocky’s reply is nearly incomprehensible, adding to the film’s unintentional humor.
• I suppose there’s a moral here about the further one strays from their roots, the more susceptible they are to a pummeling by Mr. T and befriending your former enemy.
• Features the rock classic Eye Of The Tiger by Foreigner.

Survivor

The Bad

• Rocky fights “Thunder Lips” (Hulk Hogan), a professional wrestler — at one point Rocky is thrown into the crowd and Pauly smacks Hogan with a wooden chair. C-c-c-corny.
• With the increased focus on cartoony, crowd-pleasing violence, Pauly and Adrian are reduced to one-dimensional support roles.
• Stallone is almost comically oiled and buffed — some training sequences with him and Creed are a bit — let’s just say unintentionally smirk-inducing.

Conclusion

With Rocky and Rocky II still fresh in my mind, it’s almost unbelievable how a good series went bad so quickly. Still, Rocky III worth a rental just for the campy eighties nostalgia of Mr. T and the cinematic exaggerations venturing into camp. I pity the fool who doesn’t find this flick at least entertaining.

IMDB: Rocky III
Wikipedia: Rocky III
Rotten Tomatoes: Rocky III 67%