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Rocky Balboa is like your favorite cake.  The best part is the frosting (you know it is), and you salivate and dream of that frosting (like the training montage which culminates with Rocky running up the stairs, or the BIG fight) whenever the hunger strikes.  The rest of it, the cake, is just a frosting delivery device, and you don't care if it is dry or bland.

Sylvester Stallone is back as Rocky Balboa, but he’s having trouble dealing with life.  Rocky can’t seem to move forward, always still the ex-champ who constantly is thinking of his deceased wife (yep, Adrian is DEAD!), telling tales of his former glories and surrounded by reminders of his past as if they were prison walls holding him in.  One day, when a televised computer match-up has him defeating the current world champ, Mason “The Line” Dixon (Antonio Tarver), it gets Rocky to thinking he wants to fight again, to get all of his past demons out of his system.  While Rocky is thinking about a couple of small time bouts, Dixon’s manager, LC (AJ Benza), sees this as a massive promotional possibility for his client. 

When LC asks Rocky to fight the champ, even though our hero is 60-years old, will he take the fight?  Could Rocky win?

It's the Rocky movie you have been waiting for since Rocky IV (because Rocky V was so bad you never want to remember seeing it). With Rocky Balboa, or any Rocky movie, fans are looking for two things.  We want the inspirational training montage with the music blaring as he runs to the top of the stairs.  And, we want a better, more dramatic fight than you ever see on television these days.  Thankfully, we get both in Rocky Balboa, which is why you are buying a ticket and going to see it right now!  Right?

Yes, Rocky is 60-years old and has no business getting into a boxing ring.  Yes, the movie can be clunky, old fashioned and many of the characters are trying so hard to sound like they are from Philadelphia that you swear you can hear them chewing on a cheese steak.  And, yes, it feels like a reunion of the AARP’s acting branch, but Stallone as writer, director and star has brought back a lovable character who fills that void longtime fans have been missing for years, while telling a tender story about growing old with some dignity and an eye towards enjoying the new adventure.  Stallone, as writer, even gives us some well received winks and nods at how out of time the movie and the characters are, but it just makes fans like him even more.   

However, Rocky Balboa’s bad moments are too hard to ignore.  Burt Young is way over the top with his portrayal of Paulie – Adrian’s brother and long time Rocky pal who is equal parts pal and leech.  His performance seemed so much better 30 years ago, and fit moviemaking style much better back then.  Throw in those imbecilic Philly street thugs Rocky confronts, plus some clunky and sappy dialogue, and you might be leaning forward in that seat wondering if this is a good time to take a bathroom break (or sneak into The Pursuit of Happyness). 

Yet, the music is still as rousing as it was the first time you heard it, and there’s something magical that draws in the most cynical of audience members as Rocky battles in the ring with the heart of an Italian Stallion.  Go ahead and see it.  You know you want to.

2 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4)

Rocky Balboa is rated PG for boxing violence and some language 

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