Skill vs. Will

What a satisfying Sunday. Finally, my anticipation of Rocky Balboa has come to a head - as I managed to procure tickets for the show @KLCC(11am). Of course, I dragged my buddy, Bob with me. The first - and possibly the only one of the series - that I'm able to watch on the big screen. As a rabid fan of the series, I'm giving this movie a hearty thumbs-up...though I'm sure not everyone agrees with me. That's ok, as some may enjoyed other movies such as Ghost Rider (which I ended up disliking). Hey, if you liked it, then it's worth it.

Spent a while at Kinokuniya, the whole time I was fighting the urge to use my credit card to buy some mags & books. Ahh...the temptation...

After sampling Burger King's breakfast offerings, we head to the cinema. The cinema room was...almost empty - in fact there were less than 10 people. The rest of the crowd must've been watching Norbit or possibly Ghost Rider. Well, less people getting in the way of my enjoyment, then.

As for the movie: there were some nods to the past movies here and there. The movie began with a somber tone (after Dixon's fight clip)...and builds up slowly for the first half. It is rather sad watching Rocko revisit all the old landmarks of his past...it's like he was giving the audience a tour guide to the Rocky world. He was accompanied (rather unwillingly) by - who else - Paulie. Paulie is still Paulie - he got most of the funnier lines in the movie, though.

Some people may complain about the illogical premise of the movie...but I thought they pulled it off okay. Rocky, a man of 50-plus years of age, pitted against the current world champ (Dixon) in an exhibition bout. This bout was set after a sports channel staged a 'virtual computer fight' between Rocko and Dixon, of which the former apparently won. People were getting curious from the result - plus Dixon is not seen as a legit champ, accused of facing less-than-stellar contenders all the time.

The training montage & the fight itself were rather brief (compared with past editions) but well-done regardless. Did he won? You'll have to see it for yourself. A surprise cameo by someone, who taunted Dixon before the bell rings, adds to the spice.

All in all, I was wholly satisfied. It was a great closure to the series, I believe. I'll buy the dvd when it comes out. Or watch it again in the cinemas.