Wedged in the middle of cutscenes where Bishop’s resolve never wavers are the boxing matches, most of which take on the form of themed brawls where you’re either not allowed to perform a particular move, such as body blows, or where you’re encouraged to focus on a particular attack. Tick them off the boxing movie register as you go along: the up-and-coming amateur hero who believes in truth, justice and a good face-smashing his unremittingly evil rival a carbon copy of steadfast trainer Mickey Goldmill who never gives up the villainous tycoon promoter who uses the sport for evil the wayward brother the father who never quite made it and the virtuous love interest.Īndre Bishop is your lead man, rising up the ranks of the amateur league and on the cusp of turning pro. All of your favourite clichés make an expected appearance. Judged as a narrative, told through a procession of ham-fisted cutscenes, Fight Night Champion is about as delicate as being hit in the face by Tyson. For what is an almost shameless riff on the same notes which made Rocky so successful, it is bizarre that the game’s headlining Champion mode opts to go without the quintessential moment of hitting the gym and then running up the steps and then “Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!” and so forth. It has an incredible training montage.įight Night Champion, bafflingly, does not.

The movie was nominated in seven other categories, including a Best Actor nod for Sylvester Stallone, and has remained in contemporary pop culture for over three decades despite a glut of largely inferior sequels. In 1977, underdog movie extraordinaire Rocky won three Oscars: Best Director Best Film, for which it was up against Taxi Driver – seriously, Taxi Driver and Best Film Editing. Society is enraptured by these heroes, with their diligent struggles, unwavering perseverance and faultless commitment to success these David and Goliath stories have been kept within easy grabbing distance of our storytellers for thousands of years now, and contemporary creations like the peppy, zeitgeist-riding phenomenon Glee remind us there’s no chance of these little guy tales subsiding anytime soon.

Fight night champion review