Rocky V is a step too far for the franchise. It still has expert training sequences, good dialogue and well choreographed fights, but the storyline is contrived (in order to make Rocky the underdog again) and not really successful. It undermines everything that came before.
After Paulie (Burt Young) makes some bad financial decisions, Rocky and Adrian (along with their son Robert, Stallone's, late, real life son Sage) find themselves living back in working class Philadelphia. Rocky can no longer fight after he received brain damage at the hands of Drago (in the previous film) so he re-opens Mickey's old gym, while Adrian returns to work at the pet shop.
Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison), an up and coming fighter. begs Rocky to train him but due to the influence of a loud, obnoxious promoter (Richard Gant) he gets too big for his boots and becomes jealous of The Italian Stallion. The final fight is far fetched / silly but still excites.
The last appearance of (the excellent) Talia Shire as Adrian. She helped make this franchise as successful as it was (with a memorable character) but sadly as the films progressed she wasn't given anything significant to do.
The song, 'Go For It,' is a great feel-good anthem. Watchable.
FG FG F
DIRECTED BY: John G. Avildsen. SCREENPLAY BY: Sylvester Stallone. RUNNING TIME: 104 minutes. CERTIFICATE: PG. USA.
