![]() The first Rocky is about a second chance, and so a second chance at a second chance is automatically a matter of diminishing returns. Rocky II presents an interesting conundrum to a series that had previously stated that winning a boxing match isn’t everything. The first four Rocky sequels pick up in the middle of the previous film’s climax. Rocky III embraced that lighter touch and turned it into a positive, albeit slight picture. The difference between Rocky II and Rocky III is very slight, and on any day they could flip-flop, but I rank Rocky II lower because it pushed the franchise in a campier direction. It’s just a shame that the surrounding story doesn’t carry the same wallop. Caple’s boxing matches pack a punch (no pun intended) and make you feel like you’re in the ring with the fighters and feeling every blow. If you’re just looking at this for training montages and boxing matches, then Creed II has you covered. Beyond that, Creed is back to being an angry guy who wants to take on the world, which undoes his character growth from the first movie. While in Creed, we got to see the fallible and human Rocky, here he’s a fountain of wisdom whose greatest fault is that he’s a little too scared to talk to his son. ![]() ![]() The biggest problem with Creed II is that it loses sight of these being Creed movies and puts the focus back on Rocky in a completely superficial way. You have Adonis Creed as the heavyweight champ, but it turns out that Drago has been hankering for revenge for decades so he trained his son to be the best fighter in the world in the hopes that he could beat up someone Rocky Balboa cares about. Creed IIjust takes the most obvious, bland route every time and so Steven Caple Jr.’s sequel feels rote by comparison. It’s not a terrible movie, but it also has to sit in the shadow of Ryan Coogler’s brilliant Creed. It’s corny as hell and a product of its time, but the fact that it’s so stark in its jingoism and has delightfully dated touches like Paulie’s butler robot and terrible songs like “Hearts on Fire” has made the picture at least memorable. Rocky then gives a wishy-washy speech about how “Everybody can change,” meaning, “You guys can love America because I represent America!” Instead, Rocky takes it upon himself to basically win the Cold War to the point where A) the crowd starts chanting for his name for no reason, and B) even the Soviet leaders in attendance stand up and applaud his victory. The rest of the film is essentially flashbacks and training montages with almost nothing in the way of storytelling or character development. Apollo exists in Rocky IV to die, and that’s a shitty way for the character to go out not to mention lazy motivation for Rocky. In Rocky IV, he’s an arrogant moron who doesn’t seem to train at all, thinks that Drago being bigger will make him slow enough to beat, proceeds to have a dance number before the fight, and then gets murdered in the ring. The one upside of Rocky V’s conclusion is that it opened the door for better Rocky movies, although no one knew that back when they made the series’ nadir. Instead of Rocky gracefully exiting to let a new champ reign, it’s Stallone reasserting that even if it’s not official, he’s the true champion and no one is going to take his crown. It’s a climax that goes against everything the Rocky movies had established, and it’s a clumsy finish to the story. Which makes Rocky V a hypocritical film because Rocky overcomes brain damage to defeat Gunn in a street fight. Once you get arrogant in a Rocky movie, you’re going to lose. ![]() Also, Gunn is easily seduced by Duke’s charms and the lure of fame and wealth, which leads to the cardinal sin of the Rocky franchise, arrogance. The emotional honesty is gone, and it’s been replaced by an after-school special where Rocky learns that he should pay more attention to his flesh and blood rather than Gunn, a man who feels no reluctance to share his abusive childhood with the Balboa family when they invite him over for dinner the first time.
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