Genre: Drama
Runtime: 130 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Florian Munteanu, Brigitte Nielsen, Milo Ventimiglia
Description: Under the tutelage of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), heavyweight contender Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) faces off against Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren).
Review: I don’t think Sylvester Stallone would have thought that his creation Rocky Balboa would still be in a running franchise, fourty years after the first film. He tried to end the franchise twice. In 1990 with “Rocky V” and later in 2006 with “Rocky Balboa”. And that would have been the end, if it weren’t for director Ryan Coogler. He decided to make a spin-off, based on Rocky’s boxing friend Apollo Creed. With son Adonis Creed as the central character. “Creed” was a very successful, strong and beautiful film. It blew new life into the franchise in 2015.
With many sequels, it’s hardly ever better. “Creed II” is no exception, but it’s also a really good film. Here we look back at the 1985 film “Rocky IV”, where Apollo Creed died in the ring, after a match with Russian Ivan Drago. In “Creed II”, Drago returns. With his son Viktor who is also a boxer. And he wants to fight Adonis Creed.
In “Rocky IV”, Drago was portrayed as a stereotypical Russian. He was pretty one-dimensional and it was a fight between the good and patriotic American and the curt, stoic and evil Russian. In “Creed II” they get rid of most of them. This is a more character driven film and there is more story and emotion behind both parties. This is a big plus. It gives the film a more realistic feel and it’s not so black and white.
When it comes to the story, “Creed II” isn’t surprising. Maybe how the final match eventually end, that was pretty cool. But overall it’s predictable. But somehow it didn’t really bother me.
The cast is really strong and director Steve Caple Jr., who stepped in for Ryan Coogler, did a fantastic job. “Creed II” proofs, that the franchise is not dead and that Rocky is still Stallone’s best character to date.
Rating: 4/ 5
