Yesterday the family went to the movies. Normally the way this works is that Jonna and I will go see one movie, and the three kids will go to another. Its rare these days that we all want to see the same movie.

Yesterday was different. The family wanted to see Night at the Museum, the new Ben Stiller film. I had decided that I was going to break down and see Rocky Balboa, the newest and final installment in the Rocky series.

Now, when I first heard that there was going to be a new Rocky movie, I had decided pretty firmly that I was not going to go see it – I would wait for video. But as I continued to see the trailers leading up to its Christmas release, the urge to see another Rocky movie (which overall is probably my favorite series of movies of all time next to the Godfather) gradually took over – to the point where I decided to go see Rocky by myself while the rest of the family went to see Museum.

I approached the movie with quite a bit of trepidation. Rocky 5 was a huge disappointment – not the best way to end a series of movies like Rocky. But as I sat down in the theater and the movie started, I began feeling that same feeling of excitement that has accompanied every Rocky movie I’ve seen since my first viewing of the first Rocky movie back in the late 70’s.

I thought the movie was excellent. While the tag line for the movie is “It’s not over until its over”, a great little quote from Rocky during a conversation with his son sums up the movie quite well:

But it ain’t about how hard you hit… it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward… how much you can take, and keep moving forward. If you know what you’re worth, go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit.

This quote basically sums up what you get out of every Rocky movie. That inspiring life lesson about going one more round – getting up one more time in the face of adversity. Rocky Balboa wound up being just as inspiring as the rest of the movies – and finally puts a fitting end to the tale of Rocky Balboa – something that Rocky V failed miserably at doing. While you walked out of Rocky V feeling down and depressed, Rocky Balboa has you walking out feeling that the world has been set right in Philadelphia.

Now, on the flip side, there were still some cheesy scenes, but those happen in each of the movies. But overall, it was a great experience. I think the only real disappointment for me is that the rest of the family doesn’t share the same soft spot in their hearts for the characters in this series as I do, so I walked out feeling great with no one to share the experience with.

I do think though, that this is definitely the way the series should have ended. It was great to see the series end on a high note. I give Rocky Balboa 4 out of 5 stars.