Rocky III

I have a soft spot for Rocky III. It takes everything from the first two movies and then takes it up another notch with Rocky facing his biggest adversary yet with some unexpected help from an old rival. It adds some interesting twists to the familiar story line and expands on the relationship between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed.

After winning the rematch at the end of previous film, Rocky (played by Sylvester Stallone) has become an international sensation as the new title holder of the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. He manages to defend the title over several more fights, attracting the attention of up and coming boxer Clubber Lang (played by Mr. T). Clubber challenges Rocky to a fight during a dedication ceremony for a bronze statue of Rocky at the stop of the famous Philadelphia Museum of Art steps. Rocky initially declines, intending to announce his retirement from boxing at the ceremony. He hastily reconsiders and accepts when Clubber Lang starts taunting Adrian (played by Talia Shire) instead. However, tragedy strikes right before the fight and a distracted Rocky is easily defeated by Clubber Lang. Once he recovers, Rocky gets a visit from Apollo Creed (played by Carl Weathers), who offers to train Rocky for a rematch with Lang. With the help of Apollo, Rocky trains harder than ever and is determined to regain his title once again.

This time around, the story is very much centered on Rocky and Apollo as it takes their story in a new direction away from being rivals and very much becoming friends, which I really loved as both Stallone and Weathers find new dimensions to their well known characters. Unfortunately, in the process Adrian gets a bit of the short shrift as Adrian is relegated to standing around either cheering on Rocky or looking concerned, aside from one scene where she manages to get Rocky to pull himself together and quit feeling sorry for himself. The film also marks the screen debut of Mr. T playing Clubber Lang, a disappointingly one-note character. Yeah, he's a worthy adversary that is stronger and meaner than any other opponent that Rocky has faced before, but that's all he is. After Apollo Creed in the first two movies where he was a developed and three dimensional character, Clubber exists just to well, club Rocky and disrupt his world. He doesn't seem to exist beyond that clear cut plot line. While he certainly is intimidating, I just wish there had been a bit more to his character at the same time. On the other hand, remember when I said Burgess Meredith stole the show in Rocky II? Well, I think Burt Young was taking notes because he steals the show this time around as Paulie. From the opening scene onward, where Paulie has fallen off the wagon again and has to get bailed out by Rocky only to admit how jealous he's become of Rocky's success, it was the first time in the series that I really liked his character. From that moment on, he becomes part of Rocky's team and just quietly manages to steal every scene he's in. 

Stallone, in addition to acting in the film, also returns to write and direct the film and does craft and all together stronger film than the previous film, with many of the pacing issues fixed this time around.    

Overall, Rocky III is a decent installment in the series. I appreciated the growing friendship between Rocky and Apollo that gave the film it's heart. Originally, this was supposed to be the closing chapter of the series, and fittingly has the best ending, or at least my favorite of the series.