The plot of Rocky III feels like the natural continuation of Mr. Balboa's story - he's now Heavyweight Champion Of The World and now must deal with the fame and pressures of that, leading to a lack of focus, mollycoddled management and a conflict with a superior upstart - but as a film it's lacking the personality of the originals. Rocky becomes more sanitised as a character and the presence of Philadelphia is muted, with the sunny beaches of California not offered up much of an alternative. What Rocky III is, then, is the point where Rocky begins to feel less like Rocky, both in terms of character and as a franchise. It ticks all the requisite formula boxes (even adding to them, introducing the idea of a fight at the end of the first act, something that no doubt pleases the action fans but greatly limits the opportunity for any serious character development) yet never feels that unique. There are moments that're great (gotta love Mr T as Clubber Lang and having Creed become the trainer is genius), but the plot dives about, with Micky's motivations darting about faster than Apollo Creed in the ring before his untimely death, and the second act debate over whether or not Rocky gets increasingly convoluted as Stallone tries to not just copy and paste what was said previously.
