More Of A Love Story Than A Sports Film

Rating: 9/10 (23 October 2011)

The sequel to Rocky happens to have two things that Rocky Balboa embrace in this movie: family life and a Hollywood ending. It focuses more on the love story and relationship between Rocky and his girlfriend,Adrian instead of him as an underdog and struggling pugilist.
Rocky II is the sequel to Rocky, a motion picture in which an unknown boxer had been given a chance to go the distance with Apollo Creed,the World Heavyweight Champion. Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, Tony Burton, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young and Talia Shire reprise their original roles. The story has Rocky Balboa,a Philadelphia prize fighter enjoying his brief fame after nearly defeating world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed. When Rocky is offered lucrative product endorsement opportunities, his limited education and lack of sophistication quickly become an impediment to his future success, causing him embarrassment and his pregnant wife, Adrian,a great deal of financial concern. Meanwhile, Creed is brooding over his near loss to a fighter he considers an amateur far beneath him and decides to goad a reluctant Rocky into a high-profile rematch. With the family resources dwindling and his pride wounded, Rocky decides that fighting is all he knows and makes the fateful decision to climb back into the ring once more with Creed to vie for the championship belt, despite assurances from all concerned that he will blind himself irreparably.In the end,we all know that Rocky wins this time against Apollo Creed and becomes the new World Heavyweight Champion.
Just as I have stated,the movie has become more about the character of Rocky Balboa particularly his relationship with Adrian,his becoming a father and the financial conflicts they encounter after getting married.This is where the movie deviates from becoming a sports picture and becoming a love story instead.Nevertheless,it remains a good sequel but it deviates from more from Rocky the underdog boxer which made it more popular.Also,I do believe that the movie tried to go through a Hollywood ending this time with Rocky winning it all at the end. Although the cast did good in their performances,the second film did not hold a candle to the first Rocky,which I believe happens to be a cinema masterpiece and one of the greatest films ever made.Overall,it was still an enjoyable movie to watch.
Personally,I rank Rocky II as the third best among the movie franchise behind Rocky and Rocky Balboa.