Written by: Cheo Hodari Coker (story by, Ryan Coogler (characters), Sascha Penn (story by, )Sylvester Stallone (screenplay by), Juel Taylor (screenplay by), Juel Taylor (writer)
Directed by: Steven Caple Jr.
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Dolph Lundgren, Florian Munteanu, Wood Harris, Milo Ventimiglia
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
Under the tutelage of Rocky Balboa, heavyweight champion Adonis Creed faces off against Viktor Drago, son of Ivan Drago from Rocky IV.
Verdict
I wanted this to go deeper. I've seen Rocky IV, and while the first Creed did a good job of crafting it's own story from the outline of Rocky, Creed II makes little effort to do that, only to its detriment. There are a lot of threads this could use to explore a new story in the same setting, but it doesn't happen. This is predictable and it has a very slow start. It's not until half way in I started kind of liking it, but it fails to be unique.
It depends.
Review
The first Creed (read my review) did a good job of trying to stand alone. It had a bit of spin to the Rocky story that gave it some depth. Creed II doesn't have that depth. This is banking hard on Rocky IV. It's nearly an unofficial remake, introducing Ivan Drago's son, Viktor.
This starts with Adonis in a fight to be the heavyweight champion, but this fight should have had more punch, pun intended. It wasn't exciting. I realize this movie wants to hold something back, but I was concerned the entire movie would be underwhelming. Thankfully the whole thing isn't this bad. The writing just isn't as good as the first movie. The depth the movie tries to give the characters feels strained. Adonis has a baby, but the movie never explores what that means to his career.
Adonis is challenged by Viktor for the title. Adonis has many reasons not to fight, but he wants vengeance and he's prideful. This gets a bit too theatrical with whether Adonis will fight when we know he will. Adonis is difficult to like as he's a brat. The movie tries to balance that with his family life, but it doesn't manage it though I do like most of the scenes with Adonis's mother.
How far will the movie take the Ivan and Viktor dynamic? Ivan is overbearing, he's counting on this fight to save face and avenge his lost fight to Rocky. Viktor is all but a silent goon that does his father's bidding. Ivan's a straight villain, but I wish the movie embraced that more.
This fight is about so much more than a title challenge. It's about the failures of fathers in the ring. The movie should have examined the failures of fathers outside of the ring. Ivan isn't good. Apollo left his family father less.
It's a devastating loss for Adonis. There is the question of whether the fight should be called to spare Adonis, but his pride doesn't allow for that.
Rocky wrestles with that because he didn't call the fight when Apollo Creed fought Ivan Drago, resulting in Apollo's death. The movie never explores the danger to Adonis satisfactorily. Adonis has a new child, and that doesn't seem to matter.
While this has a sluggish start, it finds a path. It has a few faults and it's entirely predictable, but the last fight was enjoyable. I just hated that I knew Adonis would win, it would be such a turn if he lost and instead had to deal with his pride and ego. It's a character flaw he never has to confront. This could explore the benefits of safety over risking his life for a pride fight. He could choose his family over a title, and with Rocky's regret in the Apollo Drago fight, the foundation is there. Perhaps I'm just hoping for too much in a movie where the draw might be good guys win and bad guys lose.
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