Creed ll Works As A Strong Sequel To Creed And An Amazing Sequel to Rocky IV

      Just when audiences thought the Rocky franchise was over with the surprisingly good finale to the first six Rocky films with Rocky Balboa, out of nowhere comes Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan's powerful boxing drama Creed which serves as both an extension of the Rocky franchise as well as a reboot for the series. What made Creed such a hit with audiences was how it took the long-running series and reinvigorated it, moving the story from Rocky's arc (Though still making him a prominent player in the new series in a role similar to his own trainer Mickey) and continuing it through the arc of Apollo Creed's surprise son Adonis. It was a brilliant and clever way of keeping the series going as it brought the story into today's generation while honoring the legacy that came before it. It also served as a vehicle for the rising status of director Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan, both of whom proved to be a dynamic team with their work previously with the acclaimed drama Fruitvale Station and the Marvel smash hit Black Panther. It was a dream team that mirrored the early days of Martin Scorsesse and Robert Deniro, or Spike Lee and Denzel Washington. Their collaboration proved to be a winning team regardless of the type of project they worked on together. The first Creed was a fantastic reboot of the Rocky series not just because it presented another pivotal arc that it can continue the story from, but the fact that it had heart which was essential to making the first Rocky film such an impactful experience with audiences while staying true to the roots of the series by presenting an underdog that the audience could relate to and get behind. With the outstanding success of the first Creed, it was inevitable that a sequel would emerge and that the story would find its way to return to the saga of Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago with Adonis now in the picture. Creed ll tackles that subplot head on making not just a really good sequel to Creed (Though it never tops that film) but a great sequel to Rocky IV.

      The plot for Creed ll takes place after the events of the first Creed with Adonis now becoming the worldwide boxing champion with Rocky as his professional trainer. Rocky is soon visited by his old enemy Ivan Drago (Played once again by Dolph Lundgren) and his up and coming boxer son Viktor (Played by Florian Munteanu), who reveal that they wish to challenge Rocky's fighter Adonis Creed's (Played by Michael B. Jordan once again) title while also hoping to settle an old score between Rocky and Drago. Creed ll's story serves as being a sequel to two films, the first being a sequel to Creed while feeling very much like the Rocky ll to that film while also serving as an official sequel to Rocky IV showing audiences what happened to the character of Ivan Drago after the fight at the end of that film. Given this challenging task, Creed ll manages to juggle both duties very well although it sometimes finds itself relying too much on Rocky ll for comfort. Adonis mirrors Rocky's own journey in that film with Adonis proposing to his girlfriend turned fiance Bianca played wonderfully by Tessa Thompson. Adonis is also being courted by Drago and his son Viktor to fight the latter in a public showdown with the underlining reason being Drago is using his son to right the wrongs of his past such as losing his fight to Rocky which essentially ended both his career and marriage. The films smartest card it uses is showing audiences the aftermath of Rocky's fight with Drago with Ivan essentially being outcasted in Russia for losing the fight to Rocky along with his wife leaving both him and Viktor in shame. Drago see's an opportunity with his son to correct the mistake he made and pushes him to be the most efficient boxer possible even if he lets his thirst for revenge overshadow the love he has for his son. Adonis clearly sees the fight as an opportunity to get justice for what happened to his father and accepts Viktor's challenge much to the disapproval of Rocky. Whereas Apollo died in the ring after experiencing a severe beating from Ivan, Adonis gets to experience his first real defeat and finds his way to build himself back up to take Viktor again in an inevitable rematch. Creed ll's story is unquestionably bigger than the previous films in regards to scope as well as the stakes being much higher this round, but it sometimes finds itself treading down old familiar territory and feeling like a by-the-numbers Rocky/Creed sequel despite doing so very well.

      As far as acting performances go, the cast of Creed ll delivers strong to exceptional performances. Michael B. Jordan is terrific as Adonis, he really feels like he's eased into this character and gives him life. Sylvester Stallone is once again strong as Rocky, its really quite impressive and special to see his character essentially morph into the role of his old trainer Mickey, while also serving as a father figure/guardian to Adonis. As strong as he is in this film, his Oscar nominated performance in the first movie still remains superior as his character no longer deals with the shocking yet effective arc that he had to not only serve as a trainer for Adonis but battle Cancer on the side. Tessa Thompson once again shines in the role of Bianca as she essentially plays Adonis version of Adrian. She's not only quite talented as an actress and moving here but she can also sing as demonstrated by both Creed films (Her introduction song titled I Will Go To War in the final fight is amazing). Dolph Lundgren shines in the role of Ivan Drago with the script allowing his character to be completely fleshed out this time. Whereas his character played more like a killer cyborg in Rocky IV, here Drago has a personality and is completely humanized as audiences sympathize with his post-Rocky fight legacy despite committing cold-blooded murder essentially. Lundgren is terrific here giving audiences glimpses of the old Drago while showing an older version whose angry and bitter about the loss that ruined his life. Florian Munteanu delivers a strong performance as Viktor, he's both intimidating and aggressive making the audience despise him when he fights Adonis though experiencing empathy for him once they see how dysfunctional his family has become and how hard he's being pushed by his parents to make up for his dads mistake. Phylicia Rashad returns as Adonis mother from the previous Creed and shines once again as she disapproves of Adonis decision given what she witnessed with Apollo but will stand by her son regardless. Brigitte Nielsen also returns as Ivan's cold-hearted wife from Rocky IV and delivers a small yet effective performance. One knew that she was a questionable person in Rocky IV though it doesn't become apparent until seeing this film how terrible of a person she actually is. As a whole, the entire cast is strong here and delivers great performances. Everyone appears to be enjoying the experience of making this movie and getting the chance to play these iconic characters once again.

      In terms of directing and writing, Ryan Coogler didn't return to direct this film due to being busy with Black Panther, instead serves as executive producer. Instead newcomer Steven Caple Jr. takes over directing duties and does a pretty solid job of maintaining a similar style of directing that Coogler showed with the first film. Caple hits all the right notes as a director of the series giving the film its share of intimate character moments as well as using impressive cinematography to film the films key fight sequences as well as providing a slick training montage that manages to top the first ones. As for writing, Sylvester Stallone safeguards this series by taking over writing duties for the sequel due to Coogler's absence and teams with co-writer Juel Taylor to pen the films script. Overall the end result is very strong and feels like true sequels to both Creed ll and Rocky IV although the problem is as good as this sequel is, it relies too much on the past for comfort. It was always inevitable that the series would return to the Ivan Drago storyline now that Adonis has been brought into the franchise as there was no way to go around it. Bringing Drago back into the mix is a Rocky fans dream come true as it brings everything full circle. The script works best as a screenplay to Rocky IV as it feels like a natural progression for both the story and characters. As a sequel to Creed ll, it remains very strong though it sometimes relies too much on past elements to craft its own story. It can be argued however that it was intentional to have Adonis life moments mirror Rocky's with him proposing to Bianca and them having a child together. One wishes that instead of Rocky refusing to support Adonis fight Viktor and watching the fight at home, he was present to see Adonis lose his first match up with Viktor, showing Rocky enduring the same situation he experienced with Apollo and Drago. The film could've then played off Rocky's remorse for letting Adonis get pummeled in the ring and not stopping it like before which would've been more powerful than just him watching Adonis lose the fight at home. Its also never really explained why Viktor dislikes Adonis so much as he had nothing to do with his father losing the fight to Rocky. One questions why there's so much animosity directed towards him, particularly the first fight. Rocky also not speaking to his son and being hesitant to contact him comes across as strange giving their relationship grew stronger at the end of Rocky Balboa.

      Despite the minimal flaws that Creed ll has, it does an absolute damn good job of trying to play two sequels merged into one, a sequel for Adonis story as well as a sequel that continues Rocky's arc. Creed ll does a terrific job tackling themes such as grudges, loss, grief, legacies, using the sons to right the wrongs of the past, revenge, and reconciliation. The films ultimate message is one that says that meeting a challenge should be about one's own growth, not for someone else's benefit. The film also says that family is ultimately more important than winning, which feels as if its playing to the arc between Drago and Viktor as Ivan used his son for his own benefit but later realizes when seeing Viktor's mom walk out again, that his son is more important than winning a boxing match which makes their final scenes shocking, poignant, and ultimately touching. As far as remaining consistent with the first film, Creed ll doesn't match it but it comes pretty damn close. One wonders how the end result would've turned out if Ryan Coogler returned to direct and help co-write the film with Stallone. Perhaps it would've had a few changes to it that would've made it appeal to award ceremony members as the end quality is very strong. This film not only serves as the greatest continuation of the story from Rocky IV, which also happened to be the most successful Rocky film of that era in the original series, but it also works as a worthy sequel to Creed that manages to successfully expand the story while bridging what potentially looks to be a beautiful trio of movies revolving around the story arc of Adonis. The main problem with how well Creed ll handles the Drago story arc and closes the book essentially, is how the filmmakers plan to do a third film as Adonis arc is essentially complete with him avenging his fathers death and remaining the champion boxer. One has to wonder what the motivation would be for getting him back in the ring with the third movie as it has to be something big. Whatever the plot turns out to be, it has to make sense while maintaining the humanity of the story as the first two films are done so well. Creed ll is an extremely good sequel that proves to be a worthy installment of the Rocky franchise, while deserving major props for performing double duty as sequels to both extensions of the same franchise. Its thrilling, its powerful, its exciting, its moving, and ultimately its worth the watch as a fan of the Rocky saga. Here's hoping Creed lll is amazing and finishes off Adonis story on an epic note.

Final Verdict: A MUST SEE