Now a heavyweight champion with multiple defenses under his belt, former street-level everyman Rocky Balboa has fallen into complacency, having extinguished the untamed fire that once propelled him to such unlikely heights. In a way, that metaphor works for the film as well as the man. Where the original _Rocky_ was an existential rumination, a study of self-doubt and critically flawed individuals set against the backdrop of a crumbling American metropolis, this third chapter is missing a certain raw edge, a grounding sense of confused humility.

If the first film is less about the fight than the sheer weight of its influence, _Rocky III_ finds the opposite position. It's all rock'n'roll training montages, baby-oiled biceps and cinematic haymakers. In that sense, then-unknown costars Hulk Hogan and Mr. T make ideal dance partners. Clearly, neither were recruited for their acting chops. They're here to grunt angrily and look intimidating opposite a ludicrously-shredded Sly Stallone, to give and take a few slow-motion slobberknockers as the story clumsily approaches its final bell. There were hints of it in _Rocky II_, four years earlier, but at this point the franchise has completely transitioned into a new genre. It's fist-pumping adrenaline whenever possible, with perhaps a few moments set aside for a quick dose of scrappy character intrigue. The charming lo-fi personality of the first film having completely given way to a posh, polished (if mostly soulless) Hollywood gleam.

It's not without moments. Carl Weathers is still around, now cast as an ally, and shares an unspoken chemistry with Stallone that's badly needed. The plot's key selling point - fear of replacement - has the inkling of something deep and meaningful, although that remains largely unexplored. The fight scenes all look appropriately powerful, if excessively reliant upon hard-hitting offense. Even as a standalone film, though, I'd see it as thin and watery, to say nothing of its relevance to the groundbreaking original. The big-screen equivalent of a throwaway episode from a long-running TV drama. The pieces are all in place, but they aren't really doing anything interesting.