Rocky III - O Desafio Supremo

The Rocky series stumbles a bit in this third movie. Sylvester Stallone once again writes and directs the film, in addition to starring. The plot has Rocky becoming rich, famous, and beloved as he defends the championship successfully in one bout after another. Then a hungry up-and-comer named Clubber Lang (Mr. T) publicly challenges Rocky, who accepts despite the reservations of his trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith).

A good popcorn movie but the first of the series to feel like that's all it's striving to be. Mr. T is fun but hard to take seriously. Hulk Hogan has a comedy appearance as "Thunder Lips," a wrestler Rocky has to fight in a charity event. This whole part is silly and kind of out of place with the rest of the movie. Nice to see most of the regulars back, including a smooth way of fitting Carl Weathers' Apollo Creed back into the story. Bill Conti's score is good but what most people remember from this one is Survivor's hit song "Eye of the Tiger." Not a bad movie in any way but a step down from part two.

At the age of 42 and as a self-professed life-long film buff and movie critic, I am a little embarrassed to admit that I only this week got around to watching the ROCKY films in order from the start. Unexpectedly, this one stood out to me as the most enjoyable, though I did appreciate the heart of the first movie and the catharsis of the second.

There's plenty to love in this film but I'll get a few of the problems out of the way first. For one, Stallone seems to have shed much of the character he'd so carefully crafted in the first two movies. Now that it was the 1980's, Stallone had a whole different look and persona to him, and Rocky here feels a lot less like the fictional character and more like Stallone himself. It's a bit off-putting but eventually the story overcomes this shortcoming.

The first third of the film drags in places, with Paulie and Adrian getting sidelined and simplified into caricatures. Paulie has started to morph into the unrefined comedy-relief sidekick kind of like John Santucci's character on "Crime Story". A few of his lines come off as so bizarre, idiotic, and off-character that they would briefly pull me out of the movie.

That said, the film really excites like no other boxing movie I have seen, and that includes RAGING BULL. Right out of the gate, the movie hits hard with some well-edited montages set to "Eye of the Tiger", an extremely catchy 80's jingle whose lyrics stand as the heart of this movie. Sure there's a couple annoying title-drops from Apollo later in the film and it's a bit-heavy handed, but this is a movie about boxing, right? The way Mr. T hungrily eyes Rocky's boxing success while the theme plays fits like a glove.

Stallone's charm (which is substantial) gets eclipsed by newcomer Mr. T as the villain Clubber Lang. I remember Mr. T being a big deal when I was a kid in the early 80's between "The A-Team" and his cartoon show where he goes around fighting crime with a van full of plucky kids. It's easy to see how this movie put him on the map as his rough, unfiltered, improvisational demeanor and ogre-like facial contortion make him hard to take your eyes off of.

Narratively, I love that things are not so straight-forward as the first two movies and I was made to feel sympathy both for Rocky and Clubber. Both trade places being underdogs and high on their own victorious ego at various places in the movie. It wouldn't work as well without the acting talent, the streamlined story structure, and Stallone's own direction which exemplifies a surprisingly perfect command of how to emotionally connect with the audience.

A triumph of boxing movies and sports-related films in general.

30 minutes shorter than its predecessors-- according to audience reactions I still disagree with, that's the same curse that held "Superman IV" in Hollywood Purgatory (or maybe lower).

Thank heavens "Rocky III" is still an enjoyable piece of work!

For Stallone's second shot in the director's chair, he pits his famous character against Clubber Lang, a testosterone-oozing Mr. T. The trouble is, has Rocky grown complacent in light of his massive celebrity?

While it does stick to something of a formula, R3 still comes out swinging, with more humor and better drama than the first two, but doesn't reach the cheer-inspiring fever pitch of the second.

A worthwhile entry.

Despite the familiar narrative, Rocky III is still a great third installment that's funny, emotional and thrilling. Sylvester Stallone gives an incredible performance once again and his direction is great. Carl Weathers, Talia Shire and Mr. T are all great. It's extremely well filmed with intense and visceral fight scenes. It's also expertly paced and the music by Bill Conti is really good.

An unnecessary but entertaining chapter to the Rocky saga. Stallone laces up the gloves again. A very cliche and somewhat-misdirected plot, dialogue and moral knocks it down, but the energetic action and boxing drama and glory brings it back up and continues to swing to the final bell.