I recently went on something of a Rocky spree in my movie watching.

Historically, I’ve seen the original Academy Award winning Rocky once, Rocky IV several times (because Rocky IV is amazing, and if I can change and YOU can change, then EVERYONE can change!), and the Creed trilogy all once each. So I had some blindspots to fill in. Having been a fan of every entry I’ve previously watched, I felt it was time to see how the ones I missed shook out.

I did a three movie stretch of Rocky II, Rocky III, and Rocky Balboa. Which does mean I missed out on Rocky V, but I didn’t have as immediate access to it as I did the others. Also, it’s allegedly the worst one, so really… what was missed? But hey, don’t worry; I’ll get to it someday.

We’re here today to specifically discuss the immediate follow-up to Rocky, Rocky II. Rocky III and Balboa might slip into the discussion, but I want to focus on just one movie at a time here, guys.

After having taken the world champion Apollo Creed to the fifteen round distance in their highly publicized war, Rocky II starts off with both champion and challenger being taken to the hospital to recover. Balboa is content with his decision loss, but Creed is almost immediately set upon by disappointment that he was not able to KO his little known opposition.

Upon their release, Rocky goes back to his life and proposes marriage to Adrian. She accepts, and the two are soon married and pregnant with their first child. He blows through his winnings from the fight and soon finds himself back doing menial labor to take care of Adrian. His attempts to get into advertising and even offie work are rebuffed by potential employers. Even his work back in the meat factory is short-lived, though, and Adrian has to go back to work at the pet store to make ends meet.

This is about when Creed starts publicly demanding a rematch to save face. Rocky likes the idea–a much more massive pay day awaits–but Adrian wants him to stay retired. Luckily for the plot, she eventually changes her mind–we’ll get to that in the Ups and Downs–and the rematch of the century is on!

TWO UPS AND TWO DOWNS

+ The first act is endearing and funny, with dumbass Rocky Balboa being so earnest and adorable, and having no idea how limited his purse from the first fight would be as he pisses it all away. But Stallone really continues to nail the character work and make our protagonist someone you want to cheer for. 

I really enjoyed the idea that Rocky is too stupid and illiterate to get into even the most basic of acting. And we’re told his award for the fight was a mere $37,000, but he’s out buying furs and watches and cars like there is no tomorrow. Good characterization, sure, but it’s also realistically how a chronically lower class person would treat a sudden windfall.

+ There is a solid story of Apollo’s pride getting in the way of his promise that there would be no rematch. It’s believable that the champ would go back on his word when the result of the first fight casts a pall on his legacy. It allows this movie to undo what the first seemed to guarantee. 

Creed being perpetually haunted by his inability to knockout Balboa and taunted by his supposed fans who think the whole fight was fixed really works. There are definitely aspects of Rocky II that feel forced and like a cash grab, but at least they took the “no rematches” clause and washed it away in a way that doesn’t betray the audience.

– The movie grinds to a halt in the second act when Adrian falls into a coma for a while after giving birth. It feels like the momentum of the film is obliterated there and then for an ineffective emotional beat, and then Adrian wakes up with a massive change of heart and tells Rocky to go win the fight. It’s all so out of nowhere. 

The pacing of Rocky II was going along extremely well until the coma subplot, where it felt like the movie had to stretch out its story to fit a runtime requirement. Which is wild, because the film is two hours long. You could have eliminated the coma and still easily had a feature length picture.

– There is a story about Rocky having a bad eye and being threatened with going blind if he fights again. Also, it’s played up that his eye will hinder him during the fight, as he won’t see Apollo’s punches coming. This subplot goes nowhere and does not matter in the final fight. 

Frustratingly, this eye issue does not come back up in any of the Rocky sequels that I recently watched or any of the others that I remember. It feels like each movie in this series kind of exists inside its own world and makes its own rules. Whatever happened to continuity?

OVERALL

Rocky II is not quite on par with its award-winning predecessor, but it’s still a solid flick that builds on what the first set up. Despite accomplishing his goal in Rocky, he’s still a loser who needs some kind of redemption. I can see where some would say that a sequel that gives Rock the title undercuts the point of the first, but I like the idea behind this. Also, it gives us the possibility of a franchise full of mediocre follow-ups! And the end of the Cold War!