It prompts Apollo to go into less noble territory as he launches a smear campaign designed to goad Rocky into returning for a rematch. His wedding to Adrian is just as unpolished as it would’ve been prior, and given his fragmented physical state as a result of his injuries, a quick return to boxing would be unwise. Rocky simply seeks a return to normalcy, and he’s finally gifted the chance to pursue his actual intentions. Shire is also fantastic, and Rocky II is perhaps the only sequel that actually treats Adrian with any respect. While the film doesn’t specifically mention the racial pressure of being matched by a white man on a national stage, it's an impossible factor to ignore that lingers over the story, and Weathers delivers a much more vulnerable depiction of the heavyweight champ. Apollo just saw his reputation challenged, and while he doesn’t have any resentment towards Rocky, he knows his career hangs in the balance. The character stakes are incredibly different. Rocky has no intentions of returning to the professional boxing world, as he’s more interested in reuniting with Adrien ( Talia Shire). While they had originally decided the match was a one-time media event, Apollo seeks an immediate rematch to prove his victory was well-earned. Rocky II picks up immediately with an exciting recap of the original fight and the split decision, but follows Rocky and Apollo to the hospital as they cope with their injuries. What happens when an underdog becomes an icon, and how does an arrogant celebrity cope with being overshadowed by a beloved new public favorite? Rocky II equally considers the perspectives of both Rocky and Apollo Creed ( Carl Weathers) and develops the ramifications of the original film’s ending rather than exploiting it. While the later films would introduce exterior threats, Rocky II retained the original film’s stakes and questioned them in a logical way. While these films were rightfully hailed, the precedent of a more nuanced story featuring Sylvester Stallone’s loveable Philadelphia boxer was established all the way back in 1979 with the first sequel, Rocky II. Rocky V suffered from a myriad of other problems, and thankfully Rocky Balboa and Creed were able to tell stripped-down, character-centric stories that possessed the same inspirational qualities of the original. Ironically, when the series attempted to return to a street-level storyline in Rocky V with McTiernan coming back, it broke with the escalated version of the Italian Stallion viewers had come to expect. RELATED: Nuclear Take: Apollo Creed Deserved to Lose in 'Rocky IV' Comparing the pet shop conversation scene from John McTiernan’s original with the blatant pro-capitalism of Rocky IV, and it's shocking they exist within the same series. T) in Rocky III pushed into a heightened reality, and Rocky IV got into the comically absurd with Rocky single-handedly ending the Cold War. The introduction of the new antagonist Clubber Lang ( Mr. Of course, that nuanced dramatic weight would quickly become secondary to the spectacle as the Rocky franchise continued. Rocky is as much about the training montages as it is about sensitive conversations highlighting the plight of the working class. Obviously, Rocky is a definitive crowd pleaser and its Oscar win came at the expense of the more subversive classics Taxi Driver, All the President’s Men, and Network, but for all the film’s fist-pumping energy, it's a definitive New Hollywood picture. While it may seem strange now considering that it's now the most iconic sports saga of all time, making a franchise out of the original Best Picture winner Rockydidn’t seem quite as obvious in 1976.
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