Rocky rocks! -- Rocky Balboa
Rocky Balboa
Genre: Action/Drama
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Cast: Sylvester Stallone,
Burt Young, Milo Ventimiglia
Storyline: Thirty years after
he shot to fame, does the
last action hero still have in
him the heart for a fight?
Bottomline: Rock-solid swan
song!
In spite of being apprehensive about the cheesy storyline of Rocky making a comeback to the ring years after his last few duds in the franchise, you decided to watch it for the never-say-die spirit of the fighter. And weren't you pleased! Rocky fans, rejoice. Sly, the Stallion bows out in style. With his head held high. What a finale!
It is rather difficult to miss the similarities between the careers of Sylvester Stallone and Rocky Balboa. That's exactly where and how Rocky tugs at your heartstrings.
Years ago, this was a man people used to cheer for — the spirited underdog, who had the heart for a fight. So what if he was aging?
But as times changed, the fight became all about winning and packaging than the fight itself and a legend was relegated to a has-been, it is only fair that the fighter got his chance to prove his worth yet again.
Unforgettable aphorisms
The film is brilliantly written and you can feel his heart when Rocky tells his son: "The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done."
Soon enough, we have the gorgeously shot now-familiar training montage unfold to the timeless Rocky theme. You get goose bumps. You feel the adrenaline rush, the tension before the fight. Action explodes on screen with the fight itself.
You join to root for the underdog, yet again — the man you nearly wrote off, after his last few bouts. At the end of it, however, you only wish, good old Stallion wasn't all that modest. Seriously, who gives a hoot to realism in an action film? You ought to have smashed his skull, champ.
Give the champ a standing ovation. Or at least, get yourself a seat.
SUDHISH KAMATH
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