Sylvester Stallone plays one fighter, while Robert De Niro plays the other. Kevin Hart puts the fight together as the Promoter, and tries to simply get his life back together by profiting off of it. Each fighter is now way out of fighting shape, and neither has kept up with their training, but that doesn't stop them from getting into it seemingly every opportunity they get. While recording lines and doing motion capture work for a video game, the two get into a physical altercation which is then put up on youtube. That is how the final fight comes about, the video gets so much attention that they decide their is a market for it. Stallone who retired calling off the 3rd match 30 years ago, is not interested in another fight. However many bills and him trying to help support his old trainer forces him into it. De Niro has done better in life, and his his own business that provides him with enough money. His motivation is very different, and he wants the fight to finally prove he is better. The fact that that last fight never happened has dictated his life the past 30 years, and changed him into a bitter old man with no real likable qualities.
As the movie progresses we learn why the fight never happened, and more as to why both fighters are suddenly so into it 30 years later. We learn that Stallone only retired to take away the one thing that truely mattered to De Niro, and why he hates him so much. As the movie continues we are meant to grow attached to both these characters, but that sadly does not happen. Until the final few minutes, De Niro never comes across as likable, he never redeems himself. Stallone on the other hand tries to accept the past and starts to work on the mistakes he made in life. The movie ends with him in a much better place, and you are happy for him. De Niro on the other hand, you simply don't like or care about. It made the movie so lacking, as he is a huge part of it and a focal point of most of the film. While the acting was superb, if I don't care about the character or his story, acting will not be enough to carry my interest.
The finally was decent, though nothing spectacular. I thought the way the fight played out was kind of poorly handled. De Niro makes a conscious decision late into the fight that I know his character would have never made, and it just felt out of place. The entire film reminded me of the far superior movie "Warrior (2011)" with Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton. Everything about that movie was just better. Stronger story, much more emotional and had me far more invested in it. And the fighting was vastly superior. Not to say Grudge Match wasn't decent, but it felt like it never lived up to what it wanted to accomplish. In the end I had trouble finishing it after losing interest a couple of times. Kevin Hart and Alan Arkin kept me in the film however, and provided much of the comedy to try and break up the more serious moments.
Not a bad movie, but nothing great.
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