Rocky 3 (1982)

 

Now this is the one where stuff started to get rather silly. Does that make it any less valid as an entertaining film? Heck no! But you can clearly spot the divide between the raw drama of the first two and the character of Rocky Balboa and the comic book character he would become, especially in the next installment. 

But for all its silly antics and over the top production, this remains one of those films that you can watch over and over and still get a kick out of. 

Rocky is now on top of the world as the new world champion. Money is flush, his life is great, he knows how to spend wisely and well, he is everywhere as a suave gentleman. You can tell his character has changed quite dramatically. He also defends his title successfully several times, but in the wings there is a young and angry fighter ready to take over.

This is Clubber Lang, played by the one and only Mr T. Sure, he might be nothing more than a meme now, but back during the 80s, Mr T was thé man. He not only has this distinct look, but the brash persona he portrayed almost 24/7 spoke to each and every kid around. And yes, star-making performances in this film and especially in the tv-show 'The A-Team' helped quite a bit. 

Anyway...

Clubber is young and hungry, something Rocky has lost sight of. But Balboa decides to fight this punk, even if everyone else knows that Rocky has gone soft. The night of the fight, Mickey has a heart attack, making sure that Rocky isn't focused and he consequently gets his ass handed to him. Mickey dies and Rocky is left despondent and doubting everything. 

And then Apollo Creed comes back in to the picture, wanting to train Rocky in order to take down Clubber by finding that 'eye of the tiger' again. 

Yes, it's this film with that brilliant song. 

Of course, you know how all of this turns out. 

So, 'Rocky 3' is a bit light on story, as it pretty much goes over the exact same beats every single time, but there is something undeniably fun about this one. It's great to see former rivals become friends (Rocky and Apollo), the setting gets changed just enough and Mr T makes for a brilliant bad guy, even if he isn't in the film all that much. He is the most memorable part, by far, which speaks volumes to the man's charisma and presence. 

Maybe it's the mohawk. It is, isn't it?

So this is just one of those glorious timewasters where you leave your brain at the door and just enjoy it for the heck of it. The character of Rocky is someone different and this is Stallone almost at his most 'roided up superhero of the 80s-version, but by golly isn't this just fun!