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Rocky II
The Oscar winning Best Picture of 1976 was a 15 round split decision, so a sequel was an inevitability that didn't really have the magic of the first film, but it does provide what the fans came to see and really makes them wait for it too.
The 1979 film faithfully recreates the last 10 minutes of the first film and then we watch the words of no rematch uttered during the end of the first fight become fantasy as Apollo is consumed with the thought that Rocky was lucky and demands a re-match while Rocky considers his moment in the sun history and wants to resume a normal life that has nothing to do with boxing. Needless to say, Apollo is having none of this and the eventual second showdown does happen.
Stallone's screenplay spends a little too much time watching Rocky buying a house and a car he can't afford and adjusting to becoming a father instead of what the fans of the first film really came to see...we wanted to see Rocky definitively kick Apollo's ass. The script does an admirable job of establishing Apollo's obsession with getting back at the Stallion, but there's way too much time spent on Rocky trying to forget boxing and being a good husband and father. His missing the ring does bubble to the surface eventually while Adrian is doing whatever she can to keep Rocky out of the ring for good. We understand how the two separate parts of the story connect, but it takes just a little too long to do so.
Stallone's direction is also a little on the self-indulgent side...he seems to consider Rocky's hard-to-swallow naivete about a lot of things gold but it really starts to wear thin here. We already learned in the first film that Rocky was not the brightest bulb in the row, but Stallone really drives it home here to the point of ad nauseum.
Once the fight is on, the movie kicks in just the way it should and you almost forget the melodrama you had to tolerate to get there. The training sequences are just as exciting as ever and the actual climactic fight is quite riveting, even if it is a little bit over the top. Stallone's sincerity as Rocky is still quite endearing and Talia Shire lights up the screen, even when the character is standing in Rocky's way. Burgess Meredith's Mickey has the same effect. Kudos to Stanford C. Allen's editing and, of course, Bill Conti's heart-pumping music. Certainly a letdown from the first film, but it eventually delivers what was demanded after the first film.
The Oscar winning Best Picture of 1976 was a 15 round split decision, so a sequel was an inevitability that didn't really have the magic of the first film, but it does provide what the fans came to see and really makes them wait for it too.
The 1979 film faithfully recreates the last 10 minutes of the first film and then we watch the words of no rematch uttered during the end of the first fight become fantasy as Apollo is consumed with the thought that Rocky was lucky and demands a re-match while Rocky considers his moment in the sun history and wants to resume a normal life that has nothing to do with boxing. Needless to say, Apollo is having none of this and the eventual second showdown does happen.
Stallone's screenplay spends a little too much time watching Rocky buying a house and a car he can't afford and adjusting to becoming a father instead of what the fans of the first film really came to see...we wanted to see Rocky definitively kick Apollo's ass. The script does an admirable job of establishing Apollo's obsession with getting back at the Stallion, but there's way too much time spent on Rocky trying to forget boxing and being a good husband and father. His missing the ring does bubble to the surface eventually while Adrian is doing whatever she can to keep Rocky out of the ring for good. We understand how the two separate parts of the story connect, but it takes just a little too long to do so.
Stallone's direction is also a little on the self-indulgent side...he seems to consider Rocky's hard-to-swallow naivete about a lot of things gold but it really starts to wear thin here. We already learned in the first film that Rocky was not the brightest bulb in the row, but Stallone really drives it home here to the point of ad nauseum.
Once the fight is on, the movie kicks in just the way it should and you almost forget the melodrama you had to tolerate to get there. The training sequences are just as exciting as ever and the actual climactic fight is quite riveting, even if it is a little bit over the top. Stallone's sincerity as Rocky is still quite endearing and Talia Shire lights up the screen, even when the character is standing in Rocky's way. Burgess Meredith's Mickey has the same effect. Kudos to Stanford C. Allen's editing and, of course, Bill Conti's heart-pumping music. Certainly a letdown from the first film, but it eventually delivers what was demanded after the first film.