ROCKY V (1990)
** / *****
Review by John Ulmer
"Touch me and I'll sue," says a boxing promoter to Rocky Balboa
(Sylvester Stallone) towards the end of "Rocky V." Rocky hesitates,
then reconsiders, clenches his fist and knocks the guy out. "Sue me
for what?" he says, and walks away rather happily with his wife (Talia
Shire) and son (Sage Stallone) treating him like a god.
Well, how about assault? Yep, Rocky's brain ain't A-okay in "Rocky V"
– his beating in the ring at the end of "Rocky IV" has gone to his
head (literally) and now he can't fight again or he'll risk being the
next Muhammad Ali. (Not that Rocky necessarily had any brains to begin
with.)
Most people complain that the "Rocky" sequels are repetitive. They
forget "Rocky V": This one, rumored to be the final installment (but
Sly wants to do yet another!), is totally different from all the rest.
(Which is surprising, since John G. Avildsen – director of "Rocky" –
returned only for this one.) I give kudos to Sly for going somewhere
new with this film.
Example? Unlike the predecessors, "Rocky V" takes its character out of
training, throws away his fortunes, implies permanent brain damage,
and basically tells us that this movie isn't going to be about boxing.
Instead, it'll be about Rocky trying to adjust back to the gritty side
of life. (Which isn't the perfect closing to a series that is all
about a nobody becoming somebody. It's the essence of the series.)
Even the final fight in "Rocky V" is wholly different from the others
– it takes place outside, "on the streets," where Rocky has an
unrestricted fight with a guy two times his size. (Guess who wins.)
Unfortunately, the slight originality of "Rocky V" doesn't win it any
points – it is a poor movie by all standards, featuring Sylvester
Stallone's worst performance as the titular character. At first it was
realistic, then it sort of became comedic; by "Rocky V," it was
downright ridiculous.
The dialogue is stiff and wooden. The acting is worse. And the
direction is messy -- more kudos to Sly for managing to write and
direct all of the "Rocky" sequels (save "V") and maintain the focus of
the first. Avildsen's return behind the camera harms the movie. Why?
On the Special Edition DVD of "Rocky," Avildsen explains that he told
the cinematographer to mimic the style of the first film. "But that
looked like a documentary!" he was told.
And so "Rocky V" looks less like a gritty, realistic documentary and
more like an MTV video presentation – during the final fight, the
handheld pushes in on the faces of anxious spectators, causing instant
nausea. Back-and-forth it goes, again and again, rapidly moving to the
beat of some '90s rock/rap song.
The film chronicles Rocky's fall – Paulie (Burt Young) blows the
family's fortunes, a new fighter becomes the Heavyweight Champion, and
Rocky is left with the grim reality of...nothing.
He takes a job at Mickey's (Burgess Meredith, who makes a flashback
cameo) old gym as a trainer, which is where he coaches a new boxer,
and ultimately finds a new villain to fight. The movie goes nowhere
else – it isn't the bold character study that "Rocky" was, nor does it
contain the uplifting, victorious underdog message.
If nothing else, this proves that Rocky – the character and the films
– doesn't translate well onto the screen nowadays. With firmer grasp
of direction, perhaps it would – which is why, to be totally honest,
I'm not so disappointed to hear that another "Rocky" could be coming
along soon. I'm sure it will be a more fitting conclusion to the
series than this.
2/5
- John Ulmer
e-mail: johnulmer2003@msn.com
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