Rocky V
I never had real problems with Rocky V until now. I always thought seeing Rocky debilitated and forced to pass the torch to a new fighter was a legitimate angle to take on his story. Now I get why everyone, including Stallone, hates it, though I’m still glad they didn’t kill Rocky in the final fight. That would have just been depressing for the sake of depressing. It wouldn’t improve the story of Rocky for him to be dead.
The Balboas lose all their money and their house due to a corrupt accountant. Rocky signed over Power of Attorney while he was in Russia, thanks to Paulie not reading the documents properly. The accountant was trying to flip some real estate, but the bubble burst so he lost all the Balboas’ money. That part is rather prescient. Why didn’t we listen to Rocky??? After his fight with Drago, doctors diagnose Rocky with a condition common to boxers where, long story short, if he fights again he could die or be permanently disabled. So another quick payday is out of the question.
Stallone really overdoes it trying to play Rocky as borderline brain damaged. He’s still a lovable lug, but maybe Stallone is just too smart to be convincing as such a dolt. He’s a great actor though so I think it’s more his script is trying too hard to reset everything back to the way it was, down to Adrian going back to work at the pet shop. It’s nice that she did it because she wants to be close to him when he reopens Mickey’s gym, but it feels like a series of references with no real impact on the story. I mean, Rocky’s not going to go into the pet shop and flirt with Adrian anymore now that they’re married.
I think there’s some genuine emotion with Sage Stallone playing Rocky Jr. It looks like Sly loved having his real kid on set, even if Sage maybe didn’t really want to be an actor. The Don King-esque character George Washington Duke (Richard Gant) was relevant to boxing in the’ 90s, and I had to keep reminding myself that because he seems like such a one-dimensional made up character, but that was Don King. Real boxer Tommy Morrison played Rocky’s new protege Tommy Gunn, and I buy that a young punk kid would take the quick money over the hard road Rocky paved.
The worst thing about Rocky V, and this is saying a lot, is the music. ‘90s hip-hop is incredibly dated and “Go For It” is not montage music worthy of a Rocky movie. I bet you could improve the movie a whole star or two by re-scoring it with Bill Conti instrumentals. I appreciate what Stallone was trying to say about what was happening to boxing with promotors, and the values of Rocky sacrificing his family for the wrong talent, and as a kid I got it, but in hindsight, and in such close viewing proximity to Rocky I – IV, it just doesn’t work.
