When “Rocky V” didn’t exactly set the world on fire, the series was put on an over 15 year hiatus. But Sylvester Stallone, who felt unsatisfied with the final product and did not want to leave the series on a low note (see my review last week if you want more details), decided to make one more Rocky movie before officially retiring the character’s boxing career.

That movie would be the confusingly titled “Rocky Balboa” (2006) with Stallone returning to the director’s chair after taking a break from it in “Rocky V,” alongside his usual job of writing, starring, and probably coffee runs.

It’s now 2006, and after becoming the world heavyweight champion, ending the cold war, getting brain damage, and reopening Mickey’s gym, Rocky Balboa (the character, not the film) has chosen a quieter life away from boxing and now owns a small Italian restaurant called “Adrian’s”.

But the years haven’t been kind to the Italian Stallion, as the love of his life, Adrian, passed away a few years ago from cancer, and his son, Rocky Jr. (played by Milo Ventimiglia), wants nothing to do with him. The only person from the old days he keeps in contact with is Paulie (Burt Young) who’s gotten more depressed as the years gone on.

This sad mundanity of a life ends when ESPN runs a simulation where Rocky (in his prime) goes up against the current heavyweight champion, Mason “The Line” Dixon (Antonio Tarver). In the simulated bout Balboa comes out on top, which succeeds at getting Rocky interested in boxing again and royally ticks off Dixon. Agreeing to one last fight, Rocky now has to prove he can still go the distance, even in his twilight years.

“Rocky Balboa” (the movie, not the character) does what “Rocky V” tried to do: go back to the tone of the original two films and stand alone as a good film. But while “Rocky V” only succeeded at doing the former, “Rocky Balboa” manages to do both.

Rocky (the character, not the first movie) once again feels like a real down-on-his-luck-underdog again, and the way they do it is both really well handled and hits the audience right in the gut.

The movie does a good job showing off his physical disadvantages, as it’s pointed out multiple times that Balboa is not as young anymore and his knees can’t take as much pounding. While his opponent is both much younger and the current heavyweight champion.

Not only that, but they also do well making him feel like he’s fighting an uphill battle emotionally. Adrian, his wife, who served as his rock and was always there when Rocky was ever in a serious rut and the only one who could ever get him out of one, is gone and his relationship with his son is strained at best.

All these factors make an audience really want to see the old Stallion go the distance one last time and face the (in his terms) “monsters in his basement.”

The film also has some good call backs to the previous films that don’t feel like references for the sake of references but are actually really elegantly woven into the narrative. A great example is when Rocky and Paulie visit what’s left of the ice skating rink that Rocky took Adrian to on their first date. 

The scene uses both audio from the original film, which is made more choppy, and visuals, which are given a filter that makes the events more stylized and cut more frequently, that really makes it feel like a distant memory that’s being reminisced about several years after the events took place.

A great way the film also calls back the first two films specifically is all the scenes, aside from the final fight at the end, are shot on standard 35 millimeter cameras. This lends to many shots having a more grimy and dirty look that the first two films had, instead of clean or sleek like the subsequent films had. 

But even with its more depressed tone, the story never forgets what makes Rocky, Rocky: his near infinite kindness and tendency to take most of life’s troubles in stride and come out on top.

Several times in the film, Rocky goes out of his way to be nice to people. Whether it’s allowing Spider Rico (Pedro Lovell, the boxer he beats up at the beginning of the first movie, that movie being “Rocky” not “Rocky Balboa”) to eat at his restaurant for free. 

Or going out his way to help a woman named Marie (now played by Geraldine Hughes, who was a character in the first film as a little girl who calls Rocky a “creepo”) by getting her a job at his restaurant and getting her son a dog. Something worth mentioning is that it’s very refreshing that the relationship that they have is purely platonic and not at all romantic. Because it would be weird seeing how he knew her as a child, but also because it’s very rarely seen in most films.

Though, all this melodrama and nostalgia-bait wouldn’t work nearly as well if the acting wasn’t in a heavyweight class of its own. Stallone steals the show across the board, and completely nails it in every scene he’s in.

His most standout moment is when, during a particularly poignant scene, while arguing with his son he goes on a very powerful monologue, about how life isn’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and get back up again (which is basically a summary of the whole series)

If this movie has any flaw it is that the main rival, Mason Dixon, is very forgettable. He doesn’t have anything that makes him interesting or stand out like all the other film antagonists had.

It’s also very weird that the film just sweeps the whole brain damage plot point from the previous film under the rug, like it’s not a problem. Especially, when it was the entire reason that Rocky couldn’t box any more.

“Rocky Balboa” (the movie, and I guess the man in this case) is a great return to form and a near perfect way to retire the characters boxing career with dignity and respect.