Movie Review: Creed II

Creed II **** / *****

Directed by: Steven Caple Jr.

Written by: Sylvester Stallone and Juel Taylor and Cheo Hodari Coker and Sascha Penn based on characters created by Ryan Coogler.  

Starring: Michael B. Jordan (Adonis Johnson), Tessa Thompson (Bianca), Sylvester Stallone (Rocky Balboa), Dolph Lundgren (Ivan Drago), Florian Munteanu (Viktor Drago), Phylicia Rashad (Mary Anne Creed), Russell Hornsby (Buddy Marcelle), Wood Harris (Tony 'Little Duke' Burton), Michael Buffer (Michael Buffer), Andre Ward (Danny 'Stuntman' Wheeler), Christopher Mann (Dr. Ewell), Brian Gallagher (Jeff Shockley), Emmanuel Carter (RJ), Paris Michael Cunningham (Amara Creed). 

 

2015’s Creed, which was both the continuation of the Rocky franchise (it’s seventh film) and kicked off the Creed franchise, was a shockingly good movie. It should not have been too surprising, given that it was directed by Ryan Coogler – who had proven himself a fine filmmaker with Fruitvale Station – but what could have been an easy pay cheque movie turned into something deeper, while still being an entertaining piece of studio filmmaking, with great performances and real heart. It was the best Rocky film since the original – and announced some major new talent. Creed II is nowhere near as good as Creed was – and yet for a studio sequel, and a sports movie programmer, it is still a hell of a lot of fun, and a hell of a movie in its own right. No one is getting nominated for Oscars this time around (although, only Stallone got nominated last time) but in an era of constant sequels – most of which disappoint – perhaps its worthy celebrating a fun sequel like Creed II. As predictable and formula driven as this is, there is a reason why the Rocky formula has endured for more than 40 years now.

 

We pick up a few years after the original film, with Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) challenging for and winning the Heavyweight Champion of the World belt in a fight against the aging champ – a fight that no one much liked, because the outcome was a foregone conclusion. An enterprising boxing promoter, Buddy Marcelle (a underused Russell Hornsby) comes up with a plan for Adonis to fight Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu) – the son of the infamous Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) – the man who killed Apollo Creed in the ring in 1985, and then was beat by Rocky himself in Rocky IV (by the way, anyone else notice that this film tells us that Apollo died in 1985, and that his son is 28 years old?) Anyway, Ivan has raised his son with a single purpose in mind – to redeem his failure. He has been living in the Ukraine in shame for all the decades since – having been abandoned by everyone, including his wife (you will probably guess who plays her when she does show up, but in case you don’t, I won’t say anything). Viktor is big and mean and punches really, really hard. He is mostly an unknown, and has never really been tested – no one can last that long in the ring with him. The fight will be huge. Adonis wants to take it – but Rocky refuses to help him train for it, telling him he doesn’t need the fight. On the more personal side, Adonis is about to propose to Bianca (Tessa Thompson) – and that is before she finds out she is pregnant.

 

You can probably write the screenplay yourself with this setup, and you would most likely come up with something much like what happens in Creed II. It is a story of hubris, humbling and triumph and this movie hits all the beats you expect it to. Sure, this is a formula, but it works. It works because Michael B. Jordan is so good as Adonis, and carries the movie on his charming back, and because Stallone in particular adds a level of emotion that is needed here. His regret over what happened to Adonis’ father is palpable here, and does a lot of emotional heavy lifting – perhaps too much so. I would have liked to see Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad, as Adonis’ adopted mother, given more of that lifting – but it works with Stallone as well.

 

If there is a missed opportunity here, it is with Ivan and Viktor Drago. Both Lundgren and Munteanu are actually quite good in this movie – but they aren’t really given much to do other than glower and be stereotypical mean Russians. There is another version of this film, where their relationship more directly mirrors the relationships between Rocky and Adonis (they would not have had to do much, it’s pretty obvious) and made them into more than just stereotypical bad guys – it also would have helped to make that ending, which is already good, hit all the harder.

 

Coogler is back for this film as director – he was undoubtedly busy with Black Panther – and while the direction by Steven J. Caple is good here, it doesn’t reach the same level as Coogler’s film. It is slicker and shinier – with the rougher, tougher edges shaved off. Then again, the whole movie is slicker and shinier, so it works here. Creed II isn’t a legitimately great studio franchise film like Creed was – but it’s about as good as we can expect from an audience crowd pleaser – the eight entry in a 40+ year old franchise.  Yes, it’s more clichéd, but the clichés work.