Weirdly unsure of itself

Rating: 5/10 (18 March 2019)

Of all the Rocky films this is the only one that I don't think really works on its own or in continuity. (I think this is why it is often ignored and the 3 later films basically don't acknowledge its existence). The film is really caught between telling a traditional Rocky story where he becomes an underdog, trains for fight while dealing with interpersonal stuff and has a big fight and a Creed like story where Rocky transitioned into a mentor of a younger fighter. Neither story is told well and both suffer by trying to combine them. I still don't know why the screenplay felt the need to have the promoter character and Tommy's betrayal. There is a stronger simpler story of Rocky just training a younger fighter.
The family stuff is pat and ill advised. Paulie is saddled with a very dumb and callous (even for him) mistake in order to get the family back into a blue collar setting. Add in Rocky and Adrian never really get in an extensive fight with Paulie about his mistake and the whole conflict feels hollow. Likewise, the subplot of Rocky Jr. being bullied is resolved too easily. Nothing really gels and coheres in this film.
There are still a few touching and/or effective scenes in the film. Anything involving Mickey is great. The medical consequences of boxing at least are mentioned as a plot point. The training scenes with Rocky and Tommy showed promise for a different story dynamic. The final fight is absolutely nonsensical on the plot level but it is utterly brutal and it is fitting that Rocky has one fight like that in his career.
This could have been so much better.; It makes for a terrible conclusion of the original run of films.