The first Rocky was the ultimate underdog of a film that managed to make its way to the top of the film world. Like its subject matter of the unlikely amateur boxer having a shot to go the distance with the heavyweight champion of the world, "Rocky" did likewise by coming from a first time writer in Sylvester Stallone, having a low budget and no star names attached to draw attention to it. It ultimately came away with several Academy Award nominations including a win for best screenplay for Stallone. However, "Rocky" is also the type of film where the story should only be told once, at least for a perspective of being unique or fresh. And now we come to the sequel, "Rocky II", which is in essence a remake of the first film with a different ending. That's not to say it's an entertaining and uplifting excursion, but it just doesn't offer anything new. What ultimately makes this film work is the character of Rocky Balboa and watching him go through the journey again. If it weren't for him and his positive attitude, this film would be completely pointless.
The film starts off right we left off from the first the film, with a recap of the big fight between Rocky and Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). At the hospital afterwards, Rocky and Apollo, both in wheelchairs and sporting ugly injuries get in to a verbal altercation, the basis of which is Apollo's embarrassment at not being able to dispatch Rocky early in the fight. This underpins the plot of the whole film; as time passes, Apollo is called 'soft' and his authority as heavyweight champion is questioned. In order to get his reputation back, Apollo challenges Rocky to a re-match against the advice of his team who think Rocky is a dangerous fighter. Rocky has been living the easy life after the first fight and doesn't accept straight away, but after constant taunting and a meeting with his manager and trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith), they decide to take up Apollo's challenge. After the familiar fanfares and training sessions set to Bill Conti's uplifting score, we get another marathon boxing match to climax the film, only this time, Rocky knocks out Apollo at the end.
Rocky, as it turns out a perfect character for Sylvester Stallone, is the selling point for this franchise. He's humble, dumb but street-smart and positive. He takes the hits, and he keeps moving forward. His character is an inspiration and it is on this integral point why this franchise started with such a great first film and spawned so many sequels. People love this character and it's not hard to see why. Stallone also serves as director on this piece and he does a solid job, especially as he's acting at the same time. It's shot simply, and straight to the point, mirroring the straight-forward nature present from the first film. The big fight at the end is extremely well choreographed and staged by Stallone; I'm sure boxing fans would get a kick out of it.
Carl Weathers is great fun as Apollo Creed. He really plays up the anger and humiliation from the previous fight well, and is great at taunting Rocky. The remainder of the cast reprise their roles amicably, including Talia Shire as the quiet and shy Adrian, Burt Young as her pessimistic nuisance brother Paulie, and the standout Burgess Meredith as Rocky's trainer Mickey. Altogether they round out a top notch cast that support Stallone in making this film inspiring to watch, and deflects the fact that the plot is a re-telling of the plot from the first film.
"Rocky II" is fun, uplifting entertainment, with a strong central character in Rocky Balboa, but at the end of the day it's a rehash of the first film.
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