Sylvester Stallone
Rocky Balboa

There are boxers who fight professionally even up to the age of 50. This might lend a thread of credibility to the sixth and hopefully last installment of the long-running Rocky Balboa saga. The sixth episode was born for certainly commercial reasons and mainly promotes an actor who hasn't received gigs for several years (last small role in Spy Kids in 2003). A man who, accustomed to certain levels of fame, cannot give up his presence on posters or the global news coverage about himself. Having first picked up the pen and then the camera, he took charge of the new episode of the Philadelphia boxer with a 360° approach. We find Rocky where we left him. But where did we leave him? The fifth episode was so inconspicuous that no one had thought of this character for years (except during sporadic re-airings of the classic '70s and '80s episodes on TV networks). Anyway, Rocky is now a stocky ex-boxer who has turned to the restaurant business. His beloved Adriana has died, and he has opened a moderately luxurious restaurant in the city from where he started, embellishing the walls of the venue with photos of Thalia Shire. He wakes up at five in the morning and feeds the animals, apparently like a lonely and sad old man. But then he goes to the local market and stocks up on food for his restaurant. Then there's his son, played by Milo Ventimiglia, who is a brat with a haughty attitude, constantly reminding him that he lives in his shadow. Then there's the alcoholic Paulie, his late wife's brother, who becomes unemployed and, as usual, is taken under Rocky's protective wing (not only as a character but also as an actor, given that Burt Young has now featured in all 6 episodes). There's Rocky visiting his wife at the cemetery and bringing her flowers, probably every day. Suddenly, the manager of the world champion, a young black kid from Las Vegas (with a decidedly too kind and beautiful face), contacts him for an improbable exhibition. The project comes to life after a television program pits the two champions against each other in a simulation, accrediting the possible victory to Rocky.  "Who is the greatest of all time?" Obviously, our hero also feels ridiculous initially and has no intention of getting massacred, well aware that his inactivity and age have made him slow and essentially unable to sustain such a demanding match. Medical exams will determine that the boxer is not entirely unsuitable for the match, and at that point, the Philadelphia champion will decide to train for the fight. He will work on power. Rocky still has something to prove, and Stallone has the need to self-celebrate, his physique and his alter-ego. The training is certainly not as thrilling as those historic ones with Apollo Creed in the third episode or in the Russian snow in the fourth. The fight is fairly credible. The soundtrack is a reprise of the old musical episodes from the earlier installments. The settings are the classic, smoky, and suburban streets of Philadelphia.
A film useful only for image and the "cash drawer": a desperate appeal to die-hard fans who would never miss Rocky's exploits, even if battered, but always with a noble and fighting spirit.