Years ago, Billy "The Kid" McDonnen and Henry "Razor" Sharp (Stallone) were two rivals at the peak of professional boxing. Fighting eachother In two legendary bouts, both retired before a final tie-breaking match could take place. Now entering old age, the two get into a fight whilst helping to make a boxing video game. When the video of the tussle goes viral, the two are coaxed to finally settle the score in the ring.
Grudge Match has one obvious conceit. Putting on a match between two of cinema's most famous boxers. In one corner, Rocky Balboa from the Rocky series (1976 - 2006) and in the other, Robert De Niro's portrayal of real-life boxer, Jake "Raging Bull" La Motta from Raging Bull (1980). As such, Grudge Match takes more from Rocky's idealistic underdog sensibilities rather than the far darker and more dramatic Raging Bull (though there are the odd moments where the visuals belie a Raging Bull influence). However, despite the stylistic comparisons. grudge Match is not even the same league as the initial Rocky movie or Raging Bull.
As a drama, Grudge Match is fairly paint-by-numbers and is fairly predictable. This is altered with a couple of second act plot twists that alter the trajectory of our leads (Stallone's twist worst, De Niro's tries but never fully pays off). As comedy the film also falls pretty flat, although the gags in the film's end credits better anything in the main story arc of the film.
The casting boasts some good names. Robert De Niro and supporting player Alan Arkin always deliver enough to justify their stellar status and Stallone is a greater asset as a performer than he's often made out to be, however Kevin Hart's turn as an ambitious promoter falls mostly dead with the exception of a few glimmers that show promise. Ultimately, the film provides a decent pay-off an a surprisingly well-executed (albeit slightly too brief) match, but it's a case of too little too late and whilst Grudge Match isn't a "bad" film, per se, given the lineage that spawned this film, it unsurprisingly doesn't live up to their reputations.
Next time, Buster Keaton must drive his train and bring his beloved across American Civil War borders in a re-release of the 1926 classic, The General.
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