Rocky Balboa

It all started way back in 1976 when Sylvester Stallone - who wrote the script and took the leading role - created the character of the Philadelphia low-grade boxer who managed, against all the odds, to go the distance with world heavyweight champion Aollo Creed and give the world a new kind of underdog to support. In "Rocky II" (1979), after 15 brutal rounds, he defeats Creed and takes the title. In 1982, "Rocky III" sees our hero lose to Mt T before Apollo helps him bounce back. By the time of "Rocky IV" (1985), the franchise had acquired an international dimension as the Cold War is acted out in the ring with Rocky squaring up to the Russian Ivan Drago. Another five years passed before Stallone felt that he had to return to the iconic role - in "Rocky V", he adopts a young fighter who turns on him.

That really should have been it - but, as the tagline for "Rocky Balboa" puts it, "It ain't over till it's over" so, 16 year after the last film and an amazing 30 years after the original movie, he's back. It seems that Rock is so missing his wife Adrian that, in spite of running a successful restaurant named after her, he finds that he has something "luking in the basement". On this sixth outing, the narrative arc is just the same as first time round - again a complete no-chancer facing a world champion after a gruelling training routine involving the same frozen meat, the same one-armed press-ups, and of course the same race up the Museum of Art steps - and the same music.

What's different is the advanced years of Rocky and of course Stallone himself - but he looks good, the film looks good, and you'll feel good at the final bell. As the man says: "It ain't about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"