If most movies are experiences of anticipation, always building, then Rocky Balboa is the opposite - an act of reflection, moving ever backwards.

This is not a movie of what will be but what has been, and the best compliment one can bestow on the experience is to say it succeeds in cutting through the fodder of the four “Rocky” sequels and returns fans back to that original moment of euphoria. For a moment, the 30-year interim melts away, and we’re slipping back into the same old boxing gloves.

Yet this nostalgic trip comes at a cost – the cost of genuine surprise or well-rounded characters. Trips down memory lane are often purely superficial journeys, and the details here are squeezed out to make way for one picturesque sentiment after another.

Sylvester Stallone, who not only returns as the champ but again writes and directs, is well aware of how to use this scrapbook style of filmmaking. Allowing some sequences to dissolve out of focus, while slowing down other key scenes to give them a nostalgic, slow-mo feel and even recreating the classic "Rocky" training sequence which culminates with the champ running, fist raised, up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, “Balboa” is both a comeback film and last hurrah.

In many ways, the details of what’s happened between Rocky then and Rocky now are what will delight fans the most, so be warned: spoilers ahead. From the first scene, it’s obvious that the glory days are over. Sitting next to the grave of his lost love, Rocky is not just a fighter who’s lost his punch, but a man who’s lost a good deal of his heart.

He’s lost some of the spring of his step, now walking with a permanent slouch. He’s lost the love in his life – both that of his wife and that of his son (Milo Ventimiglia), who sees his dad as a threat to his own independence. He’s even lost his sense of connection to the past, spending his nights driving around the old neighborhood with Paulie (Burt Young) and recalling the good old days.

The one thing he hasn’t lost is a lingering semblance of fame – fame he uses to raise money for his small, struggling restaurant. Patrons come and Rocky shuffles out, regaling them with tales of glories past.

But fame means nothing if it’s trapped in the past, and victories don’t much matter to a fighter who feels they are all behind him.

Things change when a cable sports channel simulates a fight between the aging Rocky – the boxer who fights out of love for the fans – and the young Mason “The Line” Dixon (Antonio Tarver) – the brute who fights selfishly for money and fame, and only for himself. Ignoring age, the computer simulates a Rocky victory, and the old champ suddenly sees an opportunity.

Just as everyone around him seems to be bottoming out, Rocky again decides to lift them up on his shoulders, jumping back in the ring for one last go at it.

There’s nothing particularly memorable here – no profound triumphs or lasting rallying cries. In fact, Stallone is far better as a muted Rocky, exuding an unexpected degree of quiet wisdom beneath that sagging, tired exterior.

Stallone the director seems to have recognized this very fact, allowing the movie to linger far longer on the pre-comeback Rocky and then rushing through the arbitrary ending. As the boxer makes the decision to rally back yet again, a quick musical training montage segues into a hastily-constructed boxing contest which cuts out more than half the fight.

But by then it doesn’t really matter. “Rocky Balboa” is a movie that both confronts the struggles of growing older and then encourages us to escape with a character who defies those very laws of aging. It’s a movie that starts in reality and then drifts off into pure fantasy – and while it doesn’t hold a candle to the explosion that was the first “Rocky,” it’s still fun to see Stallone trying to spark that innocent, idealistic and uplifting flame all over again.

by: Steven Snyder steven@zertinet.com, Published 2006-12-22