Creed II

I’ll make this short and sweet, Creed II is a sequel’s sequel and I don’t mean that in a good way.  It doesn’t build off the last installment, further explore the characters we’ve come to know and love, go in a new direction or repeat what we’ve already seen but do it even better this time around.  Creed I was a fine solid movie and it was great to spend time with good ol’ Rocky again.  It didn’t break any ground though and wasn’t particularly memorable if I’m being honest.  But it was fun while it lasted.  Creed II on the other hand is a bland rehash of the Rocky formula.

The script is the main issue.  It’s so goddamn predictable and uninteresting.  I know all the Rockys/Creeds are basically the same but this time felt the most contrived.  All the usual beats are hit like Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station)) learning to not rest on his laurels and get the hunger back, weighing family obligations with a desire to box in a potentially deadly match, dealing with the pros and cons of notoriety, balancing friendships, partnerships, relationships with the constant need to fight other dudes and etc.  It all feels tired and too robotic here.  Plus the countless nods to parts III and IV are distracting (I laughed out loud when they announced the final bout would have to take place in Russia, you know, just like in Rocky IV!).

I’m pretty sure I saw several places pitch the idea that a film about Ivan Drago’s son, Viktor (Florian Munteanu (real life boxing shit)), would’ve been way more fascinating.  There’s a lot more there to dig into and you could approach this tried and true story with a fresh perspective and introduce all new characters and locations and maybe sports is totally corrupt in Russia with boxers taking performance enhancing drugs but Viktor doesn’t do that and has to battle these behemoths clean and some of the refs are paid off and it could be really fuckin’ cool.  

Hell, even an Ivan picture would’ve been better.  It could be like Rocky Balboa but with Drago making a comeback.  And if they did that in 2018 Dolph Lundgren would’ve been only a year older than when Stallone did Rocky Balboa so the timing would’ve been perfect.

Ah well.  Aside from part V this has got to be the weakest in the series.