Rocky 2

This is when the famous 'Gotta Fly Now' by Bill Conti starts to feature in the movies. Stallone looks a few years older but nothing about the film has changed.

Rocky 2 is a repeat of Rocky 1. He has moved on with his life, married the girl and is having a child. He agreed to a rematch with Apollo Creed immediately after winning the first fight but nothing really motivates him for most of the film because everyone knows his name. He does eventually start to work out and train for his rematch but throughout the film he never really looks like he will win it, except that he is Rocky so he is destined to win it so that the films can continue.

I have probably more criticisms than likes about this film. I felt like this film was just a filler for another movie. Certainly this film has not helped to develop Stallone's non existent ability to act or his barely recognisable speech. He's not bad on the directing part but I really struggled to make out anything that he was saying and he wasn't particularly great at showing emotion either. There are a lot of people out there who like him for these movies and maybe they see other things that I don't but I can't see why he made so many of these films as the star.

My next criticism is that the sequences are slow that even I would be able to beat him in a fight. He doesn't block, he stands there and lets someone else hit him. In today's world and even in the time that this film was made that was criminal. He's no longer an amateur, Rocky Ballboa is a household name and everyone pays to watch this fight. They pay to watch him get beaten to shreds by a guy who actually trained and at times looks to be a really good boxer but even Apollo Creed could have beaten Rocky because he also stood there and let Rocky hit him for most of the scene. Watching this film was disappointing in so many ways and I can imagine that I would have been disappointed if I were watching it on release day as well. Rocky and Rocky 2 have a similar to the Sean Connery 'James Bond' movies but without the comedy. The fight scenes were ridiculous in those movies as well but there was a comical element to it that was lacking in this film.

Kinda still want to watch all the other Rocky films just to see if the standards raise at any point.