Some co-workers and I went to the theater last night to see the new movie Rocky Balboa. (Click the link to see the movie trailer.) I’m sure they added the last name so they wouldn’t have to go back and count up how many previous Rocky films there had already been. (This would have otherwise been called Rocky VI.)

You might be saying to yourself, “Isn’t Stallone 60 or so?” He is 60, and his age becomes a source of some humor in the picture. Basically, Rocky, who now owns a restaurant, sees an ESPN report in which a computer program has placed past and present fighters in the ring against each other and tabulated which is most likely to win. Rocky is named the virtual winner against an up-and-coming fighter. That gets him thinking. From there, you can figure out what he does next.

I won’t spoil the ending for you, but then again, I think the point of the Rocky franchise pretty much makes it impossible to spoil the ending: you probably have a good idea of what will have happened by the time the credits start rolling. You might not be exactly right — there’s a little room for surprise, at least — but you have a good idea.

I’m not a huge fan of the Rocky franchise: I saw the first two movies years ago, I saw the third two or three times, and I saw the fourth one about seven times total back when I had HBO and that was the movie that they ran every three hours that particular month. I never saw Rocky V, the last one made, and I heard I hadn’t missed anything. There are some nice flashes of memory that reference the earlier movies, and if you’re considering seeing it, you might want to watch the original one more time; there are some nice parallels to the original.

I’ll give you one warning, though. Early in the movie, there’s a solo piano arrangement of Rocky’s signature theme, called “Alone in the Ring.” You’ll know it when you hear it, and the first time you hear it, make yourself get used to it. By the time the movie’s over, you’ll be convinced that you’ve heard that same poignant little cue at least one hundred times. And it’s one of those little arrangements that slightly changes a note or two to make for the right mood, and in doing so makes it just annoying enough that you’re ready to strangle the piano player. Be prepared.

It wasn’t a bad movie, which sort of surprises me, considering that the last Rocky film wasn’t a hit and it has been 16 years since we revisited this territory. But assuming that this is the last Rocky movie — and it should be — it’s a nice wrap to the series.