A very good sequel

Rating: 8/10 (8 August 2015)

Rarely do we see sequels which live up to the hype or stand strong against the original story, but "Rocky II" delivered on both levels. As someone here already mentioned, it does not bring in any new characters and it certainly does not change any of the old ones. It basically is a rematch film, going back to what worked in the original. Simple guy with poor background again gets a chance against the world champion. The first fight was spectacular, but both fighters feel empty after it. So a rematch is born! Apollo pushes for it and Rocky would grab it immediately, only his wife is stopping him.
The thing I like about this film is that in many scenes it feels real. Many of its characters feel real. Actually, I cannot think of anyone there who doesn't fit into the real world. Even the loud- mouth Apollo Creed is credible, he acts as the world champion. And he looks fit. I don't think I remember a boxing film where one of the fighters looks this fit. Hats of to Weathers for that. The relationship between Rocky and his wife can be felt by the audience, and I will give credit to Stallone for this because I think he is not the top of the lot when it comes to drama acting, but he found his spot here and he played it well.
The sequels which followed where bordering with comedy, so I think the first two films make a nice combination of sports, drama and action.