Promising elements, but a less triumphant final product

Rating: 5/10 (1 January 2016)

How this mighty character fell. The best part of Rocky II is the opening few minutes, which is just the final scene of Rocky. After that it takes a noticeable step downhill. Whilst Stallone is still a talented writer and actor, he seems distracted by the additional task of directing, which he is far less capable of and it impacts his work negatively.
I didn't care much for Creed's sudden mood swing between the end of Rocky to the start of Rocky 2, which chronologically happens in about 20 minutes but has Creed completely change tack. Now he wants a rematch more than anything in the world. Rocky turns him down at the advice of his doctors and Adrian, who point out that a beating like he had in the first Rocky could make him go blind. Instead, Rocky proposes to Adrian (in one of the cutest scenes outside the original Rocky) and the two of them start setting up their life together. These early scenes do great justice to the Rocky-Adrian relationship I so loved in the original, and Stallone as a director is able to understand them because he created them with his writing and acting. Everything from his nervous proposal to his saying "thanks" do Adrian's "I do" is pure Rocky-Adrian delight. Whilst trying to embark on a commercial career, you can still tell that Rocky values Adrian's opinion more than anyone else's and that makes their relationship so honest and believable.
Rocky runs into financial woes when he can't hold a job and turns out to be terrible with money. This was a nice plot point because too often boxing movies end with the triumph and we are left to assume so much afterwards. It also does much to push his rematch with Creed, which needed a legitimate reason on Rocky's end. During the film's best scene, when a tearful Rocky pleads Micky to let him be part of the one thing he understands, we as an audience have come full circle and are ready for Rocky to get back in the ring. However, clever writing and great work from Stallone and Meredith help us realise the gravity of Rocky's health. It's solid work.
Stallone retains much of what I loved about Rocky - his low-self esteem, his disarmingly pleasant manner (his ignorance of trash talk in the press interview with Creed is almost Forrest Gump levels of innocence, but not jarring) and his thug-with-a-heart-of-gold demeanour. Talia Shire gets less to do with Adrian, because she goes through each of her plot points jerkily as Stallone the writer/director drops them in her path. Unfortunately, she also spends a large chunk of the movie in a coma, where the film really falls apart. Her refusal to give Rocky her blessing to fight Creed again is distracting for Rocky, which is subtly weaved into his training scenes that already contrast sharply with Creed's, but when she goes into a coma the film grinds to an excruciating halt. Besides one very touching bedside scene where a tearful Rocky tells her to sleep as long as she needs, the film is boring and slow while she's in her coma. We find ourselves pleading for her to just wake up already so we can get into the fight. Eventually, Adrian wakes up with all the drama of Seinfeld's The Other Side of Darkness and with probably the most hideous deus ex machina in film, has a change of heart and tells Rocky to win the fight.
Then we get back to what we want: the glorious music, Stallone putting himself through hell as he trains, the big run up the Philadelphia steps (which is cheesy but utterly delightful when he's surrounded by locals). Unfortunately, the big fight is a colossal let down. Rocky is knocked down twice after taking about 50 hits to the head (so much for protecting his eyes) and shrugs it off with a "darn it". None of the punches feel real. There's no drama, because it's recycled. We don't feel Creed being worn down like he was in the first one and Rocky's continual getting up feels more like a film script than a genuine moment of triumph. When he finally knocks Creed out, I was just glad it was over.