Rocky II (1979): Rocky struggles in family life after his bout with Apollo Creed, while the embarrassed champ insistently goads him to accept a challenge for a rematch.
After the huge success of Rocky (3 Oscars and several nominations) a sequel was inevitable, but this time Stallone not only writes the screenplay (as in the first one) but he also directs this movie. When I was a kid I obviously didn’t know about this, but later on I found out that Rocky is really his own creation and the character closest to him.
This second installment in the Rocky saga picks up right after the end of the first one. In fact the end of Rocky I is shown again here in a condensed sequence (this will be repeated in future sequels). Then Rocky and Apollo are taken to the hospital, where they have a nice scene with Rocky asking Apollo if he gave him his best.
And the movie continues with character development for the first part of the story, following the same structure as the first one. A lot happens here. Rocky and Adrian get married (his proposal at the zoo was very sweet), they have some money from the fight with Apollo so they buy a house and many other things (car, watches, clothes, and a jacket with a tiger on the back, one of my obsessions as a kid).
Rocky is retired and he tries a slew of jobs: commercials, meat packing, and finally working a Mickey’s gym. He just can’t fit into these jobs, the only thing he can do is fighting, that’s what he is. He has tried to be become a “civilian”, for Adrian and for their unborn baby, but it’s just not who he is.
On the other side we see Apollo wanting to prove that he is still the champ, that he can beat Rocky again. So he insults him and his pride, and gets Rocky to accept a re-match. His trainer Duke does not agree with him, Duke knows that Rocky is no good for Apollo, but Apollo’s is too proud. I am glad that we see more of Apollo this time, we get into his motivations and we also see him train. He will become an important character in Rocky’s life.
Even though Rocky is determined to fight, Adrian is not happy about that which messes with Rocky’s head during training. Then she goes into a coma while giving birth to their son, and Rocky stops training and stays with her in the hospital. A great scene that I love is when Mickey tells Rocky that he needs to train if he wants to win, but if he wants to blow the fight he will blow it with him, and he sits with him waiting for Adrian to wake up. What a stand up guy!
And of course the scene that puts Rocky in the right mind to train is when Adrian wakes up and says ” Win!”. The training montage that follows is a fine one, with the Conti music in full display. It gets a little bit corny when he runs up the steps and 1000 kids follow behind him. Are there that many kids on the streets? That was corny but it was a nice addition to the scene in the first one.
The fact that his right eye is messed up from the first fight, forces Mickey to think of a strategy against Apollo, that is to switch hands during the fight. Start with the right hand (even though Rocky is a southpaw) and then switch towards the end to finish him off. I must say I didn’t see this strategy in the fight, maybe because I am not into boxing, so I wasn’t able to see it. I wish it played a bigger role in the match, but the emotions always take a bigger spot.
This fight was more satisfying in my opinion, I was more viscerally involved in this one, maybe because I knew these characters better. The final scene when they both go down was unforgettable, and full of tension.
To me this second film is a more polished version of the first one. There’s lots of drama, which doesn’t let the pace of the movie go slow at any time. The villain is more developed, and the fight also felt better. Even though it’s hard for me to separate the first two movies, I think this is my favorite movie of the entire saga.
Rating: 5 Stars