Word: creed
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...character and his friends. The old gang is reassembled. Talia Shire is freshly steadfast and inspirational as Rocky's wife Adrian, Burgess Meredith is back as the wizened trainer Mickey and Burt Young as the earthy brother-in-law Paulie. Carl Weathers reprises his wily Apollo Creed. It is all durable and somehow innocent. There are no crooked managers, no manipulating promoters, no mobsters in this boxing crowd...
This time Rocky, who whipped Creed to take the title in II, announces his retirement, feeling he can no longer give the sport his best shot. From the crowd on the museum steps jumps the Mohawk-coiffed, feather-bedecked Clubber Lang (played by Newcomer Mr. T, a.k.a. Lawrence Tero). The top contender harangues the champ with an intensity from somewhere beyond Muhammad Ali, demanding a title shot. Mickey, who has coached Rocky's career from the beginning, tells the fighter the awful truth: his title defenses have been against opponents he could easily whip. Lang, he suggests, would...
...retired Creed, of all people, replaces Mickey and tries to teach Rocky the new boxing method he must acquire to beat Lang-quick, stylish and black. Rocky is slow to pick it up and agonizes in self-pity. It remains for Adrian to deliver the ultimatum: go for it-the Rocky motto-or give up the rematch...
...employs the all-too familiar techniques calculated to move the audience: Balboa suffers a setback, receives a pep-talk from coach or wife, recommits himself to his goal, pushes himself almost beyond endurance, and then triumphs. Instead of working out in a decrepit Philadelphia gym, Rocky now travels with Creed to work out in a decrepit L.A. gym. Instead of falling to the mat with his dazed opponent (as in Rockey II.) Balboa now assumes a Bjorn Borg-like thanking-the-heavens pose after victory...
Burt young recreates his role as Paul, Adrian's brother and Rocky's sometime assistant manager. Though an appealing character, Paul must speak lines that seem as original as the movie's premise. Walking down the back streets of L.A. with Creed and Rocky, he says, "Rats even have more pride than to be caught dead here." When Creed insists that Rocky jump rope to disco music. Paul complains, "Rockey can't train like a colored fighter. He ain't got no rhythm...