ROCKY 4

I think the opening with the American glove and the Soviet Russian golve colliding against each other which causes a huge explosion before we see the fight from the previous film definitely gives you an idea that this Rocky film is going to be different from the rest. This is...

A strong and muscular boxer from the Soviet Union named Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) comes to America to fight against Rocky. However, an aging Apollo wishes to go up against Drago for patriotism and to regain respect to prove to the world that he is still a great boxer. Rocky grants Apollo's wish and decides to train him. However, a cocky Apollo gets killed in the ring by Drago do to his superior strength and merciless fighting skills. A sad Rocky, decides to avenge Apollo's death by fighting Drago in Soviet Russia. Now some do consider this to be a Christmas film since the fight takes place on Christmas and you get little Christmas moments like Paulie listening to "Christmas Don't Be Late" by Alvin And The Chipmunks; Rocky wishing his son a Merry Christmas live on Television; and a Robot dressed up as Santa...WAIT, a robot in a Rocky film, will get to that later. However, I reviewed "Rocky 2" earlier this year and the fight took place on Thanksgiving and the reason why I didn't review the film on that holiday is because the holiday had little to do with the story aside from taking place on that holiday. While this film does have maybe a few Christmas moments, the last thing I think about when watching this film is Christmas and I'm sure many others feel the same when watching this flick. With that out of the way, ON WITH THE REVIEW!

Let's start as usual with our main character Rocky who is once again played by Stallone (Who also writes and directs once again). While Rocky still remains as likable, heroic and fun as he was in the previous films, I don't know I feel like Stallone is kind of lacking. When you see him in the last three films you know Stallone is giving it his all and is trying really hard. In this film however, he seems to be relying more on the montages and action than he does with his acting. I mean, most of the time when he talks in this movie, I feel like I need subtitles to make out what he's saying, when in the previous three films, I can understand him just fine. The only time when I think he's really trying is when he's giving that speech at the end. Yeah, it's cheesy, it's corny, it feels phoned in, and it's not even close to earning him another Oscar nomination or for standing out as one of the most powerful film speeches of all time; but in a way, Stallone somehow does manage to sell it out appropriately. Once again, this isn't Stallone's worst performance; it's not even close to bad since he still manages to maintain the likability to his character, but his performance does indeed lack the effort and charm that he had in the last three films.

Now we move on to the supporting cast who are all once again played by their original actor. Talia Shire as Adrian, remember how her character developed to become a full supporter for Rocky and the chemistry between the two was always there? You get none of that here. The relationship and chemistry between the two feels tired out; you get the predictable concept of her not wanting Rocky to fight to later on rooting for him to fight; and there's absolutely nothing new that the film brings to their relationship, thus giving Shire nothing to work with. Burt Young as Paulie, I don't think he's even trying since most of his moments are silly and played out for laughs. Carl Weathers as Apollo on the other hand, is actually just as great and arrogant as he was in the previous films. The relationship between him and Rocky is just as great as it was in "Rocky 3"; his emotion and wish of respect to still be "The king of sting" is treated just as effectively as it did in "Rocky 2"; and his arrogant behavior and over the top patriotic love for his country has still never worn out. Tony Burton as Apollo's trainer gets to shine more in this film than he did in the previous films. In the previous films, we never really got to spend too much time with him, but here we do. We feel his emotions of his loss of his best friend and he gets to help train Rocky. Man, what a step up for this overlooked character.

We're also introduced to a new character in the supporting cast and that's the robot that Rocky buys for Paulie for his Birthday. 5 minutes in, and we're seeing a robot in a Rocky film. How out of place is that? When I was a kid who has only heard of the film "Rocky", when I saw this robot appear in the beginning of its sequel when I was flickering through the channels; I started thinking to myself "I may have never seen the first Rocky film, but I know that this doesn't belong in a Rocky film". If you think that's bad it gets worse. Paulie finds a way to make it talk like a woman and give it feelings; and the robot now becomes his girlfriend. It's not only awkward, strange and weird, but I get utterly disturbed thinking what goes on off screen between Paulie and his robot girlfriend when they're alone. The robot even becomes a babysitter for Rocky's son while he's all the way in Russia. That's right, leave the kids alone with Paulie's freaky robot while you're hours away in another country. Remember, this is a Rocky film! The robot in reality is actually used to treat autistic children, which Stallone's son, Seargeoh Stallone, is autistic and is the reason why Stallone put a robot in a Rocky film. Wouldn't it be nice if Rocky's son was autistic like Stallone's real son and having the robot play and interact with him? That would at least connect to Stallone's personal life and show why he decided to put a robot in a Rocky film. Instead, we have it serve Paulie beers; that completely takes away the entire purpose why Stallone wanted to put a robot in his film.

Now we move on to Rocky's opponent Ivan Drago played by Dolph Lundgren who's accompanied by his manager (Michael Pataki) and wife (Brigitte Nielsen) who just talk for him. While Drago is a very scary opponent and a tougher match for Rocky do to his incredible strength, threatening look, fighting skills, and lack of dialogue; I still don't find him as interesting or as realistic as Rocky's previous opponents (Not counting Hulk Hogan). Apollo was a Heavyweight champion who wanted to stay as the Heavyweight champion; Clubber Lang was a blood hungry up and comer who wanted to be the next champion; Drago, I don't even know how to describe him! Some call him either a robot, a monster, a video game character, a Dragon or a SuperVillain for Rocky to fight. Do any of those aspects belong in a Rocky film, NO; it's just as silly and out of place as Paulie's robot and that fight between Rocky and Hulk Hogan in the third film. Again, while being a silly and lifeless villain, he's still a cool and menacing threat for Rocky; and despite having very little dialogue, the actor does sell out those lines whenever he speaks. Silly and out of place, yes, but he's still a cool opponent.

Now we get to the montages and believe me this film is full of them. First off, it's important to know that the music isn't done by Bill Conti, who did the music for the previous Rocky films. The music instead has an 80's rock soundtrack and the music is composed by Vince DiCola, which really separates this film from all the previous Rocky films, as well as not playing Rocky's theme song at all. With that said, the soundtrack is still kickass. The first montage is when Rocky is driving in his car as he has flashbacks of his past and Apollo's death as the song "There's No Easy Way Out" by Robert Tepper plays which is a great montage that brings back the memories of the previous Rocky films and building up the tension for Rocky wanting to fight against Drago to avenge his friend's death. The next two montages are Rocky training in Russia the old fashioned way, while Drago trains with high tech equipment as "Training Montage" by Vince DiCola and "Hearts On Fire" by  John Cafferty plays in each of the two montages. The editing is great; the music makes a great substitute for the Rocky theme song (Even though I'd rather hear the traditional Rocky theme song); the shots and camera angles are cool; the hype for the film's big fight is just as there as the previous films; and that final shot of Rocky on top of the mountains, while not as epic as him running up the stairs of the Philadelphia Art Museum, its still pretty cool.

Now let’s talk about the two fights that take place during the film. Before Apollo's fight against Drago, we get an entrance that's more over the top than Apollo's entrance in the first film. As Drago enters the ring, we hear loud music; see a bunch of dancers and showgirls; colorful stage lights, fireworks and giant set pieces; Apollo comes down from a large platform acting cockier than he has ever been; and on top of it, we have James Brown singing "Living In America". While this sequence is extremely over the top and surreal, it's actually a really great and fun sequence. A bit out of place, sure, but it does indeed show Apollo's cockiness at his best! When we get to the fight between Apollo and Drago, the minute when the two shake hands and Drago says "You will lose", you know Apollo is in trouble. The fight goes from Apollo toying around with his opponent to ending with a bloody mess of Apollo getting the crap beat out of him. This fight sequence is just as sad and heartbreaking as Rocky losing in the third film while Mickey dies.

In the final fight; as the two fighters enter the ring, Rocky gets booed, Drago gets a huge applause and the Russians stand for their national anthem which is one of the few serious scenes in the movie. Once the fight starts, things look hopeless for our hero as he's getting the crap beat out of him, but of course when knowing the traditional sports film formula, the minute Rocky fights back things start looking up. Like all the climatic fights from the previous Rocky films this one is just as great. While knowing how the films going to end, I was still just as engaged in this fight as I was with all the other fights. It uses all the filming techniques that the other climatic Rocky fights had; the montage as DiCola's song "War" plays is epic; the anger from Drago is intense; and the fight itself looks just as realistic and brutal as all the other fights in this franchise.

Rocky 4, is silly, goofy, over the top, corny, predictable, lacks the same charm that the original films had and I enjoy it! The film is no masterpiece or near as good as the previous films, but it's still entertaining as hell, fun to watch and does hold you on the edge of your seat to see Rocky cream his opponent! It's over the top, but it's epic at the same time.

RATING 3/5