Review: Rocky II

First, sorry about the absence of new posts lately. Plenty has been going on, I’ve just been too tired to write about it. Anyway… on to the review!

The Rocky series is sort of a guilty pleasure for me. The first movie was excellent, and introduced us to the mumbling, not-so-bright, loveable underdog who manages to shock the world by staying in the ring for 15 rounds with the World Heavyweight Champion, Apollo Creed. The second movie replays the end of the first film, then picks up immediately following the fight, with two battered men being taken to the hospital for care. Apollo’s ego gets in his way and he starts calling for a rematch, despite saying in the ring that there would be none. Rocky discounts the invitation, and begins his journey from instant stardom into yesterday’s news, before his inevitable rise back to the ring to do the only thing he knows how – fight.

Rocky II had a lot of the heart of the original, but, as with most sequals, didn’t quite reach the heights of its predecessor – though it comes close. It’s probably the only Rocky sequal that I’d recommend, as the third and fourth are only a little better than formula movies with interchangeable characters (but they are fun to watch), and I haven’t seen the fifth or sixth installments (yet). While slow at points, the overall story was good and the end fight was still excellent. And I defy you to come up with better casting for Mick, the grizzled manager, than Burgess Meredith.

I’m probably partial to these movies in some part because they take place in Philadelphia, and it’s fun to see so many places I know in the film (I grew up not far from Philly). As a kid I remember seeing the Rocky statue on the steps of the Art Museum, and tried a few times to run up those steps (I think I made it halfway before collapsing). The movie does a good job of capturing the “non-touristy” side of Philly as well, and that makes it feel more real to me.

I’ll give it three and a half stars.

[tags]Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone, Burgess Meredith, boxing, movies, review, Philadelphia[/tags]

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