Rocky VII is a strictly join-the-dots concoction, with the space between the dots infuriatingly large, as the son of Apollo Creed arrives in town to persuade Rocky to train him up for what of course turns out to be the world title by a later plot contrivance. On the way, there are the trademark heavy-handed aphorisms and several training montages, along with reprises of chicken-chasing and the ageing trainer falling gravely ill. A love interest with an unobtrusive hearing condition fills in the gaps between the gym sessions, on the way to the cauliflower-face finale.
It's not a duff film as such, with the ersatz father-son chemistry between Stallone and Michael B. Jordan quite sweet at times and the fight photography tautly exciting. But the terrain is just so well marked out, that there's not really anywhere for it to go.
5/10
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