Rocky II: Electric Boogaloo

Rating: 10/10 (12 August 2016)

Rocky II picks right off where the first movie ended and with the characters are already established, we can get right into the story. Stallone writes and directs this time, and who knows his own creation better than him?
Rocky II has a much higher budget than the first film and thus doesn't have the guerrilla filmmaking tactics of the first so while it loses something in that regard it's still no less a beauty of a film. They can even afford to have a huge crowd of kids following him during the training montage and possibly the cheesiest moment in any Rocky movie. We now get two montages instead of one and the series obsession with them would grow from here. The final fight benefits the most from the higher budget. We actually get to see a large crowd of spectators instead of relying on stock footage and camera angels disguising the lack of extras; while the use of slow-motion captures the pain and barbaric nature of fighting in glorious detail. When Rocky and Apollo both fall to the ground at the end of the fight, the suspense is crazy! The final shot of Rocky's beat up face as he slurs in classic Stallone fashion is so barbaric; a perfect shot to end the movie on.
In Rocky II we get to see what Rocky does now that he has lots of money for the first time in his life and you really get a sense of the character's new found happiness. However, he becomes blinded by this happiness and it goes to his head such as when he buys a house without even checking the upstairs. Rocky struggles with his new found fame and can't even film a simple commercial. Just like how the public turn their back on Rocky, the public turned their back on Stallone after his two follow up films to Rocky bombed; Paradise Alley and F.I.S.T. Like how Stallone had to do a sequel to Rocky in order to get by, Rocky has to fight Apollo again to get by and prove that he is not a fluke or a one hit wonder. Apollo's trainer Duke also has a bigger role here and would continue to be more prevalent in Rocky III and IV; I love this guy and his intense words of inspiration.
Rocky II is easily the funniest movie in the series, from his poor driving skills to his mispronunciation of words when trying to film a commercial ("Smeel mainly") but my favourite moment is when he tries to a catch a chicken as part of his training ("I feel like a Kentucky Fired Idiot"). I also find it funny the scene in which Apollo is being consumed by hate mail telling him to kill himself; it's a good thing for him the web doesn't yet exist. In terms of more twisted humour, Rocky takes Adrian to the zoo and even proposes to her there, because you know, retards like the zoo.
Rocky II was the first film in the series to use synthesizers in its score and the music feels very late 70's and at times disco inspired (listen to the vocal version of All of My Life, it's beautiful). Bill Conti's 'Redemption' is by far the best piece of original music in the movie; it makes me want to climb a mountain.
Just a side note: In regards to the Rocky DVDs, only the first movie gets the special edition treatment and the rest are just bare bones releases. I know the first is considered the best but that doesn't mean there's no merit to the sequels that they're just tossed aside on the home video releases.
Rocky II offers everything I could ask for in a sequel, a movie which stays true to the original but offers new elements along the way. It advances the story and adds an extra layer of depth to already complex characters. In 1979 the New Hollywood movement was coming to an end and the age of the blockbuster had begun. In 1976 Rocky lost the final fight but keeping with the newfound optimism in Hollywood movies, in 1979 Rocky wins the fight (although timeline wise its late 1976).