Like the original Rocky,
Creed
had no business being as good as it was. It breathed new life into the Rocky
franchise by essentially rebooting it while nodding to the past. It's so good
that I barely like calling it a Rocky sequel. It nearly stands on its
own. Sequels are almost never as good as the original (not counting sagas that
have sequels baked in). That's because a great original movie is close-ended. A
sequel requires ripping the story back open and reverse-engineering something
to work. Knowing that the sequel to Creed wouldn't be as good, the smart
move is to give the people what they want - Creed vs. Drago - and figure out
the rest from there.
It's the only decision that makes any sense. People
only remember two Rocky "villains". I had to look up Clubber Lang,
Tommy Gunn, Mason Dixon, and Ricky Conlan but I know Ivan Drago and Apollo
Creed immediately. Since Creed's son is the protagonist now, Drago's son is the
antagonist who makes the most sense.
Creed II
quickly skips by the Rocky II and III phase of Adonis' (Michael
B. Jordan) career. He wins the boxing title early on. He's still with Bianca
(Tessa Thompson), and Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) is either in remission or
forgot he has cancer. That's exactly when, out of obscurity, Viktor Drago
(Florian Munteanu) shows up stateside with his father Ivan (Dolph Lundgren) to
challenge Adonis to a match. Ivan's loss to Rocky 30 years before ruined his
life. Everyone left him behind, so he's raised his bruising son to get revenge
on everyone, and sees Adonis as the perfect target. Let's just say that Viktor
is every bit the physical specimen that his father was and Adonis isn't ready
for him. Adonis must decide how much avenging his father's death means to him,
now that he has people counting on him.
The whole cast is back even though director Ryan
Coogler, who built Creed from the ground up, is not. And that sums up
how I feel about the movie. I still got all the same thrills as in Creed.
Munteanu is built like a tank and Jordan has figured out how to tone every
muscle on his body. They make great training montages and look very comfortable
in the ring. Tessa Thompson softens Jordan's performance. Adonis is an intense
guy and needs someone like Bianca to put him in his place. Stallone and
Phylicia Rashad (as Adonis' mother) ground the film nicely. Even Dolph Lundgren
gets some good moments. Ludgren just has the same problem as latter-day Arnold
Schwarzenegger. After being introduced to the world as a villain, he's spent
his years being a pretty nice guy, so seeing him turn heel again looks out of
place. Director Steven Caple Jr. has some fun with slow motion and knows when
to deploy the iconic Rocky theme for maximum effect. Without Coogler though, Creed
II doesn't have the same weight as before. The Dragos are cartoonish
(although I did get a little emotional over how their story played out). The
Rocky cancer arc gave Creed a dramatic story that Creed II
couldn't match. Creed II has everything except the heart that Creed
had.
What I'm saying is that Creed II isn't quite
as good as another really good movie. At the end of the day, the appeal
is about the same, although no one will complain when Creed II gets shut
out of the Oscars. This is a really good entry in the Rocky franchise.
One Last Thoughts: It's impressive how many ways the Rocky franchise
has handled the climax. It's a boxing match, so it's win/lose. Each movie has a
result that feels different though. Creed II ends the fight in a way I
haven't seen a Rocky movie do before that's also thematically resonant
with Rocky IV.
Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend
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