Creed II
Directed by: Steven Caple Jr.
Written by: Sylvester Stallone and Juel Taylor
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Dolph Lundgren, Florian Munteanu, Russell Hornsby, Wood Harris, Andre Ward, Milo Ventimiglia, Brigitte Nielsen
Drama/Sport - 130 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 20 Nov 2018
Written by: Sylvester Stallone and Juel Taylor
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Dolph Lundgren, Florian Munteanu, Russell Hornsby, Wood Harris, Andre Ward, Milo Ventimiglia, Brigitte Nielsen
Drama/Sport - 130 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 20 Nov 2018
Former lead characters are now supporting roles, but make no mistake, Creed II is a fancy name for Rocky VIII - to be even more precise, it is Rocky IV pt. II. Rocky IV is frequently the only other Rocky movie, besides the original, considered relevant and discussed when the franchise comes up in conversation. That 1985 film used the Cold War to stir up audiences when the Soviet boxing automaton, Ivan Drago, killed Apollo Creed in the ring. The end elicited a patriotic fervor when all-American Rocky Balboa defeated the communist idol in Moscow, right in front of the Politburo, mocking their claims of cultural superiority. 2015’s Rocky reboot, Creed, switched generations to highlight Apollo’s son, Adonis Creed, and revived interest in an older franchise with a younger visage to appeal to the children of Rocky’s original fanbase. Creed II is their Rocky IV.
In the first few films, Rocky (Sylvester Stallone, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) frequently experienced fear and let it get the best of him in the ring - see Clubber Lang in Rocky III. Adonis (Michael B. Jordan, Kin), closely following Rocky’s character arc, enters the fear phase after becoming the heavyweight champion of the world. He thought it would feel different. There was no magic transformation in his soul after he conquers the reigning champ and earns the belt. Angels do not sing, enlightenment remains out of reach, and he feels exactly the same today as he did yesterday when he was just a contender. However, now Adonis has something to lose. His ego could crash with the next loss. His future financial success could stumble should he become a one-and-done phenom. Since his sport is boxing, Adonis could also succumb to the ring’s worst outcome at the hands of an opponent, just like his father.
In the first few films, Rocky (Sylvester Stallone, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) frequently experienced fear and let it get the best of him in the ring - see Clubber Lang in Rocky III. Adonis (Michael B. Jordan, Kin), closely following Rocky’s character arc, enters the fear phase after becoming the heavyweight champion of the world. He thought it would feel different. There was no magic transformation in his soul after he conquers the reigning champ and earns the belt. Angels do not sing, enlightenment remains out of reach, and he feels exactly the same today as he did yesterday when he was just a contender. However, now Adonis has something to lose. His ego could crash with the next loss. His future financial success could stumble should he become a one-and-done phenom. Since his sport is boxing, Adonis could also succumb to the ring’s worst outcome at the hands of an opponent, just like his father.
This threat is personified in Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), Ivan’s son. The audience knows immediately Viktor is bad news. He shares a small apartment with his father (Dolph Lundgren, The Expendables 3), yet they hardly spark - they don’t have to. After a morning workout full of pain and torture, Viktor works outside in the frigid Ukrainian cold bathed in pale blue light. These are visual cues Viktor grew up rough, does not feel external impediments as much as his fellow man, and has a significant axe to grind. Rocky Balboa shattered his father’s life; therefore, Viktor will regain the Drago honor by dismantling Rocky’s protégé, Adonis. Meanwhile, Adonis moves from Philly to L.A. with his pregnant fiancée, Bianca (Tessa Thompson, Sorry to Bother You), and trains with his father’s old coach.
These are cues Adonis is growing soft and will be unable to compete with the real deal, street-training fighter with a heart full of gravel. Ivan most likely homeschooled Viktor about their family’s three losses: country, respect, and wife/mother. He lost it all in 1985. When the Dragos descend on America and ESPN with a greasy promoter calling out Adonis and guaranteeing the ultimate grudge match, director Steven Caple Jr. and and co-writers Stallone and Juel Taylor do everything they can to remind you how awesome Rocky IV was and how you are about to see the 2018 version of it. In Rocky and Ivan’s one real scene together, a situation which could have catapulted Creed II out of remake territory, Ivan recites a version of his most famous line, “My son will break your boy.” Come on now.
Rocky wants nothing to do with this fight; he knows personal matches like this can only hurt. Adonis has a new wife, a baby on the way, and a mother who doesn’t want to lose another loved one to a Drago in the ring. But Adonis is thinking pride, legacy, and revenge. HIs one-sided conversations with Rocky about why he must engage are earnest, but Rocky’s monosyllabic garbles and hesitant shrugs offer no push back to an easy setup line like, “He killed my pops, you don’t think I can win?” All signs point to Adonis setting himself up for a loss. All Rocky watchers know to properly prepare for a fight, you need to get out of the gym and into nature, or even better, a junkyard, especially if you’re fighting a Russian.
What Adonis needs is a montage. Are there any harder hitting montages in all of cinematic history than a properly edited training montage from a Rocky film? They’re usually more fun to watch than the climactic slugfest. Taking over for director Ryan Coogler, who ditched Creed to hop on the Marvel train with Black Panther, Steven Caple Jr. ensures symmetry is its own supporting character. The stakes wouldn’t stick without it. Adonis is becoming a father. His father was murdered by a Drago. Another Drago could murder him. The Creeds and Dragos and the 21st century Hatfields and McCoys. We’ve seen this all before. The characters are the same, the conflict is the same, and the franchise wheel keeps on turning. Creed II holds up its end of the recycled bargain with an impressive montage and believable boxing matches, but nobody will blame you if you sit this one out knowing you already saw a perfectly adequate version back in ’85.
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