Creed II

Decent enough, but adheres far too rigidly to the Rocky template

I have not met one person who didn't like a Rocky movie.

• Steven Caple Jr.; "How Creed II Director Crafted His Rocky IV Successor" (Mia Galuppo); The Hollywood Reporter (November 21, 2018)

Ryan Coogler's Creed (2015) was probably the best of the remakequels (ostensible sequels that are, for all intents and purposes, remakes) that came out in the mid-2010s (the most obvious ones being J.J Abrams's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Colin Trevorrow's Jurassic World, and Adam Wingard's Blair Witch), and was the first Rocky film not written by Sylvester Stallone, and not directed by either Stallone or John G. Avildsen. After Rocky Balboa did the seemingly impossible, redeeming and concluding the franchise after the damage done by Rocky V, Creed, written by Coogler and Aaron Covington, and directed by Coogler, did something even more unlikely – revitalising the franchise with Rocky himself as a supporting character. For the sequel, Stallone is back as a writer (sharing credit with Juel Taylor, from a story by Sascha Penn and Cheo Hodari Coker), with Steven Caple Jr. directing (Coogler is credited as an executive producer). Whereas Creed was essentially a remake of the original Rocky, Creed II is more of a combination of Rocky III and Rocky IV, with some elements from Rocky II, and whilst it hits all the beats one expects from a Rocky movie, the problem is that it hits them so slavishly, and does little else. It also, perhaps inevitably, suffers badly in comparison to its predecessor, especially in terms of direction – whereas Coogler's directorial work was assured, distinctive, and inventive, Caple Jr.'s is pedestrian and functional. Had it strayed from the formula just a tad, the way Creed did, the way Rocky Balboa did, it would have been a much better film instead of a bland rehash of something we've seen multiple times (and not just in this franc...

I finally got around to this, and I think my issue with it is Adonis Creed.

I kind of passed it over in the first one, because, honestly, it was just nice to see another Rocky movie, and you did see Creed train and fight and struggle a bit.

What we have is a kid that grew up an orphan, but at a young age got adopted into a life of privilege, had a good job, and didn't have to struggle financially, until he kind of did when he wanted to become a full time boxer... and then the story takes off.

And that was all passable, because he didn't exactly win did he? It was a hard fought first movie and he still had to go through a pretty tough arch to get to where he was that was both interesting and compelling... so despite the relative flaws in Creed, it was an enjoyable enough film to watch and far better than most of the movies we've been getting lately.

By the time Creed II rolls around, however, Adonis Creed is just whiny. And that's really it, his character isn't really allowed to progress any further, he's not allowed to grow in any way.

The poster suggests that there was a hard fought and emotional battle that Adonis had to over come and made it through a better man that when he started. The raw emotion of the poster makes us believe that he faced something insurmountable and came out victorious through sheer will alone.

And, honestly, that is how the fight itself played out and I loved every minute of it. Both Michael B. Jordan and Florian Munteanu sold each and every blow and you could almost feel it as you sat back shoving your face with popcorn.

But in the end, Adonis was still the same whiny little brat he was at the start of the first Creed installment and we are two films in. He hasn't grown in any way, no personal faults were over come. He's not at all a changed person, so you're left with the feeling that you haven't grown with him, you haven't progressed any, and by the end of the film you are left wondering what the point of it all was...

Creed II takes pieces of the previous Rocky stories and is able to completely transform them into a better, more emotional story that can easily resonate with audiences.

If I have one big complaint about this installment, it would be that the script steals almost every single story beat from Rocky IV. But, at the same time, that is one of the most interesting aspects. Rocky IV had so much potential to be an emotionally impactful movie but failed to capture that tone due to the 80s camp that was heavily featured. In Creed II, we get to see the fallout of the fight between Rocky and Drago. Where Rocky went on to be a national treasure in retirement, Drago met a worse fate in Russia. His wife left him, his country turned its back on him, and he and his son were completely alone. This isolation drives the two in order to regain the respect of their countrymen and is a very compelling motive. On the other hand, Adonis is attempting to gain redemption for the Creeds by beating the fighters that single handedly killed his father all those years ago. This story is able to evolve all of our main characters, with Donnie being able to accept his father's absence and become a father figure for his newly born daughter. Rocky learns to care for and communicate with others, resulting in him gaining a relationship with his son. And with the Drago’s realizing that they don’t need the acceptance of Russia to become successful in their own right. This story really worked for me and was exactly the type of film I wished Rocky IV would have been.

Our cast is once again superb; Michael B. Jordan’s chemistry with Stallone and Tessa Thompson is fantastic, and he is so great in this role. There is a scene with Rocky giving Adonis a very emotional speech about why he wants to fight, and it honestly rivals his speech in Rocky Balboa; it sent shivers down my spine. Our villains are spectacular. Dolph Lundgren is incredible and actually has a substantial role, with him being the hard-nose...

I like the 1st Creed alot. This one though is trying to be to much like the old rocky movie. He said he wants to be his own fighter. Yet the stories are just like the rocky movies.

This is the son of the grudge match, and it pitches the now reigning champion “Adonis” (Michael B. Jordan) against “Viktor” (Florian Munteau). Now this latter guy is the son of the “Drago” (Dolph Lundgren) and “Mrs. Drago” (Brigitte Nielsen) who got thumped by “Rocky” (Sylvester Stallone) way back in 1985, remember? Well now the son wants a crack at the the champ, only this time coach “Rocky” thinks it’s a mistake to take the fight and leaves his charge to go it alone. Messy eh? Well of course it needs a rematch, but will coach come back to help “Adonis” keep his crown? The fight sequences are pretty good here, but the rest of it is really quite mediocre. Jordan is easy on the eye and has clearly done the work to come across as a plausible fighter, but the acting across the board is all about as wooden as the never versatile Lundgren and some of the dialogue is terrible. There’s a dose of familial dysfunction, a tiny bit of romance sure, but the thing is decidedly episodic with hardly any jeopardy. It also really misses the definitive Conti score and Sly just doesn’t feature enough to impose himself on this underwhelming faux-biopic. In many ways, it is as if it were being made at the height of the Cold War to fuel the old East v West conflict, but in any case I found it just a disappointment. Sorry,