Creed II Review

Creed II is a solid movie, and I had a lot of fun with it. You don’t have to think too hard; you understand why everything happens, and the back-and-forth between both sides is great. It feels like an ode to Rocky IV, almost a direct sequel, with things happening the same way again with a few changes.

Like the first Creed, it uses the trope where the two leads have a falling out and go their own ways. Here it’s Rocky not wanting Adonis to fight Viktor Drago, which makes sense, because Viktor is huge. The size difference between them is crazy. That tension works, and the movie needed it.

I love the boxing matches, though I think they were better shot in part one, and there are fewer of them here. This one focuses more on story and dials back the action, which is fine, but I hope part three ramps it back up. I also wish they’d included a nod to Apollo Creed, like clips or some kind of ode to the character.

The bad: Adonis’s fighting style barely changes between his two fights with Drago. There’s a training montage and he gets stronger, but he fights the same way, the Rocky way, taking as much damage as possible. That fits him, but it doesn’t show growth. Adonis is much smaller and has really fast hands, which the movie shows off well, so he should have fought more like Mayweather, with counter punches, letting the big guy tire himself out. That would have shown he learned something: “I can’t beat you on strength, but I can outpunch you.”

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Creed II (2018) Cast and Details

Creed II (2018) is directed by Steven Caple Jr. and stars Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Dolph Lundgren and Florian Munteanu. It runs 130 minutes and is rated PG-13. You can look up the full cast and crew on IMDb. You might also like my Bad Times at the El Royale review.