Everyone thought it was a bad idea. It’s years since Rocky stepped into the ring, everyone’s moved on, no on cares. The guy’s too old, it’ll be embarrassing. Maybe he’s taken one too many blows to the head.

That’s what we all said about Stallone making a sixth (and very probably final) Rocky film. It’s also what every character tells the Italian Stallion when he decides to make a one-off comeback fight aged fifty-something in Rocky Balboa.

It’s absolutely the smartest plot possible for what should have been a very bad idea, and Rocky the character’s arguments for his unexpected, ill-advised comeback also serve to convince us why Stallone had to make this film. Rocky basically feels he has unfinished business, Stallone likewise after the debacle that was Rocky V.

The even smarter thing is that Rocky Balboa basically recreates the original Rocky plotwise.

In 1976 (yep, been 30 years) Rocky was an unheard of Philadelphia neighborhood kid who was a massive underdog (because of his inexperience) for the big fight that closed the film. The fight was the climax, but was almost incidental to a film about a nice guy (not the smartest, but nice) with a big heart winning over the girl he loves.

In 2006 Rocky is an old guy living in a Philadelphia neighborhood who’s a massive underdog (because of his age) for the big fight that closes the film. The fight is the climax, but almost incidental to this film about a nice guy (still not the smartest, but still nice) with a big heart winning over the son he loves.

There are even nice full-circle nods to the 1976 film, like Rocky helping out the now grown up Little Marie, the kid who famously told him “screw you, creepo!” when he helped her out in 1976. There are also plenty of acknowledgments of just how bizarre it is to be making a Rocky film in 2006:

“It ain’t over til it’s over,” Rocky tells his arrogant, unbeaten young opponent Mason Dixon. “What’s that from, the ’80s?” Dixon sneers. “Actually,” Stallone explains, “it’s from the ’70s.”

Which is a great point. After Stallone spent Rocky III and IV beating up Mr. T and Dolph Lungdren, it’s easy to forget that Rocky isn’t really an ’80s action film, but a sweet story about an honest guy. It’s from the era when character really mattered. It’s a proper ’70s film.

So it doesn’t matter how old Rocky gets, or that the actual boxing scenes in Rocky Balboa are more limited than previously, because it’s not about the fighting. It’s about the Italian American fella with the strange speech pattern. The fact it’s titled Rocky Balboa and not Rocky VI is everything you need to know about this film.

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