November 21, 2018 3 min to read

Creed II

Creed II is as good as it needed to be, entertaining with satisfying payoffs in the fight scenes. The plot surrounding the punches inside the ring is underwhelming, but unoffensive.

by Zach Saul

As a non-boxing fan, I’m shocked every time I exit a Rocky/Creed movie at how much fun I have watching these movies, and how satisfying I find every right hook Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) lands. There’s a Back to the Future-esque energy to these films where as you watch them you’re willing to tolerate a certain amount of campiness because the payoff is so rewarding. Creed II fits that bill exactly, and perhaps as a non-boxing fan; I’m exactly who these films are trying to grab.

The movie opens with Adonis taking what might as well be his victory lap; he wins the heavyweight championship belt, and is planning to propose to his girlfriend Bianca (Tessa Thompson), and pundits like Max Kellerman (a fascinating, but acceptable choice for the lead announcer in Creed II) are singing his praises on national TV. However, when he receives a challenge from the son of Drago (Dolph Lundgren) everything changes. Tortured by the memory of his father Apollo’s tragic death he accepts the fight and gets his @$$ kicked, but wins on a technicality - because Victor (Florian Munteanu) loses his cool and hits Creed after the bell. Rocky refuses to help Adonis train for the fight because he too is tortured by the memory of Apollo Creed’s death - and grapples with this the entire movie. The movie centers around Adonis’ preparation for the rematch and the eventual fight that takes place on enemy soil in Russia.

Michael B. Jordan continues to be a really likeable lead, who’s excellent with his stunts and easy to root for, but his motivations for wanting to fight Drago in Creed II were underdeveloped at best. Rocky’s existential torment makes perfect sense - as he was forced to live with the guilt of not stopping Apollo Creed’s fight to prevent his death. Adonis doesn’t share this connection - and the half-hearted pep talks he gets from his mother (Phylicia Rashad) and Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) just didn’t cut it in my opinion. To the movie’s credit - the relationship between Dolph Lundgren and his son Victor does an much better job of explaining their fixation with fighting Creed than it did developing Adonis’ motivation. The shots of Drago scowling at his son and the montages of Victor working out with old tires in the bitter cold paint a clear picture of what this kid’s life must have been like.

The Good: What Creed II does really well is create super fun, entertaining, and likeable action scenes. As a mildly squeamish viewer I never once turned away from the most vicious parts of the fight. Michael B. Jordan clearly took this role incredibly seriously and committed fully to the stunts - and the attention to detail shows up on screen. As one-noted as they were, Victor and Ivan Drago were fun to hate/root against.

The Bad: I wanted more from the conflict between Rocky and Ivan Drago. Sylvester Stallone And Dolph Lundgren met only once in the movie and exchanged some stern words - but the scene lasted less than 90 seconds. The confrontation lacked the resentment and grittiness you’d expect for two men who claim to be tortured existentially by the other’s actions. I also thought that while I hold nothing against Tessa Thompson’s performance; her singing before Adonis walks into the ring for the rematch fight with Drago in Russia was as lame as lame gets. For a movie that mostly understands hype, swag, and momentum well, they whiffed during the big crichendo. Couldn’t they have just played the original Rocky theme music or something to accompany the flashing lights? Literally anything would have been better.