2 out of 5

Director: John G. Avildsen

A clumsy plotting segue after the film’s right-after-Rocky-IV intro leads into a surprisingly strong family drama that gives Stallone a chance to not only attempt to buck some of the franchise trends with the script but also add some new dimension to the Balboa character that hadn’t really changed between Rocky II and IV.  Unfortunately the bravery of making a feel-good franchise entry back into a flick about the downtrodden – harkening back to the original’s more humbling feel (with nods to the return of Rocky’s director John Avildsen) – is totally washed over by a ridiculous ending that seemingly ignores everything that came before it.  We’ll excuse the first obvious misstep here, when Rocky, apparently directly following IV’s victory isn’t nearly as big and lean and Adrian and the couple’s son have both aged.  It’s a movie, they wanted to use Stallone’s kid to get some real family drama, time passes in real life, etcetera.  Fine.  Once you swallow that pill, some movie bad news in a 1-2: while you were away our lawyer spent all of our money, and the doctors say you can’t fight no more.  Thus must the Balboa clan move back to the original neighborhood.  It’s a bit quick and easy, but the transition is handled well and it gets us going to the story’s meat – finally, finally the champ has actually fallen, and now he must find out how to still feel like a winner.  Balboa’s training of up-and-comer Tommy Gunn and his interactions with money-hungry Don King stand-in boxing promoter Duke are handled with relative realism and patience, and Balboa’s inability to see his distraction from his growing teenage son rings true to life and to the character.  It’s a sadly satisfying (then) conclusion to the Rocky saga, and it makes the life lessons once again feel hard earned, especially since they’re not tied to a title fight.  Or are they?  As we’re rounding the bend on the conclusion and there’s a question of how this will go, suddenly the winning theme springs up and it’s a silly ‘give the fans what they want’ moment that has no place paired with the rest of the film.  It’s rather insulting to the viewer and to the themes prevalent throughout the script, and feels like the last-minute rewrite that it was.  So V isn’t horrible by any means, and lord knows it’s better than most fifth-entry films, but sticking to its guns could’ve kept it successful through and through.