In discourse today there’s a tendency to presuppose that any continuation of a movie story through the creation of a sequel is inherently a desperate grab for more money, a cynical attempt to capitalize on the success of the past by simply repeating it. I’m not even certain that this is a rule, so I hesitate to suggest that Rocky II is an exception, especially since it was a franchise that was started shortly after The Godfather Part II, perhaps the greatest sequel ever made. The Rocky franchise may have devolved into schlock and borderline propaganda by the fourth movie, but it started off as a rather beautiful little character story, centering on this relationship between the brash but kind-hearted Rocky and the strong but silent Adrian.
The first Rocky movie is still met with mixed responses; most people seem to agree it’s the best of the series, but its Oscar win and subsequent franchisification knocked it down a few pegs in critical circles. But like Rocky himself, the first movie is really an underdog story in itself, being made on an extremely low budget and becoming one of the most popular and emotionally resonant movies of the 1970s. Then it managed to follow this success up with a sequel that matched the emotional notes of the original, exploring new territory instead of rehashing the same points covered in the first one (which is what Rocky III ended up doing).
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