"Who knew charity could hurt so bad?"
If I had to pick one movie out of this epic saga, and say, "Gee, they could have done much better with that one," I'd have to say that this was that one, even though I really enjoyed this one, too.
Sylvester Stallone returns as the director of this movie, and he does a wonderful job with it again. He also writes it, and with that I feel he could have put way more into the story, but it was still a really good one!
The visuals in this movie, as they were in the last one, were incredible!!!!! I really liked how it played out in the scenes where Rocky and Apollo were training together, it was very cool, I also liked seeing Mr. T as a boxer that was hilarious. I also thought the scene where Mickey dies was very touching, I shed some tears for that one, and he will definitely be missed in this series.
The storyline of this one was much different than the first two were. Rocky is not as big of an idiot as he was in the first two, and it sort of dehumanized him, if you know what I mean. He also had the money, so him Adrian, and Rocky Jr. all had what they wanted, he was very obsessed with his money, but it was still cool to see a new twist reveal itself in the series. The death of Mickey touched me the most, and I was really bummed out when he died. This was a very gripping story, and it was indeed a fast-paced movie, and very touching in scenes, as I've said before.
Sylvester Stallone once again plays Rocky, of course. Now Rocky has grown up alot, and with his wife, he has made a lot of money, doing many fights after winning the title of Heavyweight Champion from Apollo Creed at the end of the second one. The money however has gone to his head, and though he still isn't the smartest he has definitely gotten smarter. He is a bit pompous, and it takes Mickey's death to bring him back and focus on defeating Clubber Lang after a humiliating defeat, where he finds out that Mickey was right, and that he was definitely not ready to face Clubber. Sylvester Stallone is definitely the only one to play Rocky, and that's why these movies should never be remade, he is awesome in this role as a newly developed Rocky, and was very convincing as a rich man.
Talia Shire of course returns as Adrian, who also has gotten used to the money, and her character has also developed some more. She has definitely gotten over her shyness with Rocky, even talking a lot and yelling at him on a scene at the beach, saying that he was going to get murdered out there, and that he needed to pull it together. After being insulted by Clubber you can tell that she wants Rocky to beat him bad, but still has her qualms about it. As per Sylvester Stallone as Rocky, no one else could play Adrian, Talia Shire is very good in her role, and her and Sylvester Stallone definitely have some on screen chemistry in these movies that make their roles as a married couple all the more convincing!!!!!
Burgess Meredith returns for the last time in a major Rocky role as Mickey Goldmill, and he tries to get it to Rocky that even though most of his challengers were hand picked he did it to protect him, and he also tries to convince Rocky that facing Clubber Lang was not a smart idea at all. However, he does begin to train Rocky, but Rocky's love for the limelight gets in the way of his training, and soon Mickey begins to get annoyed by this blatant disregard for the sport, and when Rocky faces Clubber Lang, after Clubber assaults Mickey, and causes him a heartattack, and loses, Rocky has to find out that Mickey will not live to see Rocky defeat Clubber in a rematch. Burgess Meredith's dying seen was so convincing I even cried, and that's saying something. I will definitely miss his character.
Carl Weathers returns again as his role of Apollo Creed, who after witnessing Rocky's humiliating defeat at the hands of Clubber Lang he decides to finish what Mickey started and train Rocky to defeat Clubber, who Apollo has no respect for thinking that he is just a power hungry punk. So Apollo takes Rocky to where he started and begins to train him, but Rocky, broken up from Mickey's death, still isn't in it one hundred percent, and that takes Adrian's yelling to bring him to his senses, and soon him and Apollo go into overtime, and they are able to face Clubber and actually have a fighting chance to defeat him, win back the title, and avenge Mickey's death.
Mr. T stars in this movie as the destructive, belligerent, and cocky Clubber Lang. After watching almost every one of Rocky's fights he decides that Rocky is a paper champion, and that his fights weren't real fights, so he challenges him for the title of Heavyweight champion. Clubber humiliates Rocky and beats him terribly, taking him out in the second round. Soon he is challenged again by Rocky, and he accepts. Mr. T was very good in this role, he was very convincing as an opposing slightly scary belligerent figure that stands in Rocky's way, and I was very impressed with his performance.
Burt Young returns as well in this movie as Paulie, Adrian's brother, and Rocky's best friend. Though his role is not the biggest in this one, it is still nice to see him return, and it's still the same old Paulie, always having a drink in his hand or on his mind, and always cracking smart ass comments. Burt Young really is the only one that can play Paulie, just like Sylvester Stallone as Rocky, and Talia Shire as Adrian, and Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed, and Burgess Meredith as Mickey, none of them can be replaced.
All in all this movie was alright, definitely not the best, but good nonetheless. I reccommend that you do rent this one first, incase you don't like it, but I know that if you're a Rocky fan, you'll end up buying it anyway!!!!!
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