The Rocky sequels have ceased to be movies in the usual sense of the word. They are now rituals, Low Masses celebrating what their star-creator assumes to be, on the basis of his past successes, the values of the least common denominator. Narrative linkage in any but the crudest form is dispensed with, and dialogue and characterizations are stripped to minimal levels. Any audience could chant the lines along with the archetypal figures on the screen, as if it were participating in a responsive reading. In any event, the point of the exercise is the traditional one: to bring a crowd...
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