Under the tutelage of Rocky Balboa, light heavyweight contender Adonis Creed faces off against Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago.
The original “Creed” is one of my favorite movies of all time. Ryan Coogler created a world in an already built franchise that was more grounded and so personal that towards the end you felt like you had gone through that emotional rollercoaster with Adonis and Rocky. When news broke that Coogler would not return for the sequel because of scheduling issues and newcomer Steven Caple Jr. was to take directing reigns, there was some room for pause. That was also followed up by Stallone co-penning the script and it would be a story about Ivan Drago’s son. We did not know what to expect from “Creed II” but the release of trailers did subsidize the negative air around it. Fortunately, “Creed II” is a fun, feel-good movie that is worth the two-hour runtime, but is not a knockout, like its predecessor. While I don’t like to compare movies in reviews, I have to in this one.
Director Caple Jr. brings out great performances from the main cast of Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, and Tessa Thompson. The dynamic between Adonis and Rocky is pretty much the same as the original but there is a slightly different dynamic between Adonis and his new wife, Bianca. After the events from the first act, Adonis is very distant, even with the notion of his expected daughter. This plays a big part in Adonis growing up and seeing the big picture which I thought was a necessary arc after the first one. Phylicia Rashad as Adonis’s mother is secretly my favorite character throughout this new sub-franchise because she is the only one who doesn’t sugarcoat things for Adonis. In “Creed II,” she does the same and is an amazing element throughout the film. The return of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) and the addition of Drago’s son, played by Florian Munteanu, is not as bad as we anticipated. Florian and Dolph have great chemistry and are a good foe to Adonis as they fight for their own reasons.
The absence of Ryan Coogler is felt subtly throughout the film. The absence of regular Coogler cinematographer, Rachel Morrison, shows as this movie is trying to do its best imitation of what the original brought us just three years ago. While it is good, it is not quite what Coogler’s vision was. Also, Ludwig Goransson returns for the score but delivers underwhelming music especially from the great score we just got from “Black Panther.” One thing Caple Jr. does do better than Coogler is make the fight scenes gritter and hurt more. Every fight had the audience in the ring with the fighter and you could feel every punch thrown and the damage it did to the other fighter.
The absence of Coogler is also felt severely. The sequel lacks that heart and grit we got in the original which seeps into aspects of the film. There is a lot thrown into this film from Adonis and Bianca moving to LA and expecting, the introduction of the Dragos, and Rocky dealing with his son and there is only so much runtime to go around. The story wastes meaningful runtime in subplots that could have been repurposed to make the film feel more grounded and emotional towards the end. The story is also awfully predictable and follows the similar story outline of some of the previous “Rocky” movies. Lastly, the film’s attempt to add nuance to the Dragos falls short and just comes off as a failed swing at making the villains more than the big bad guys we root against.
All in all, “Creed II” is flawed but is still worth your time. The acting is great as expected and the fight scenes will knock you off your feet. With some tweaks to the script and the return of Coogler, we could have had a serious debate as to which “Creed” was better.
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