Creed II Review

Creed 2 : Ready for another bout

One look at the inspiring movies over the last 4 decades and Rocky series is certainly there. Creed which initially was treated apprehensive on how it could wreck Rocky’s reputation grew into a its own league and now the sequel to Creed tries to match the first part in every aspect. The Adonis Creed, the son of former boxing champion – Apollo Creed faces Viktor Drago the son of Ivan Drago, yes the same guy who knocked the wits out of Apollo. Who better than Adonis needs to watch his back other than the boxer who knocked Drago in his own turf – Rocky Balboa.

This time around, Jordan’s Adonis Johnson-who, as you’ll likely remember, is the illegitimate son of Rocky Balboa’s late enemy-turned-friend Adonis Creed-is riding high as the heavyweight champ, and he decides to ask Bianca to become his wife. Then he accepts the challenge of a new, formidable foe, Viktor Drago (played by real life heavyweight boxer Florian Munteanu), son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). The elder Drago killed Adonis’ father in the ring (as seen in the 1985 Rocky IV). Now, he’s pushing his sullen, hulk like kid to follow in his usual nasty aggresive footsteps. Young Adonis’ trainer and mentor dad Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) doesn’t like the idea of a Creed-Drago ticket and advises Creed against it just as he advised his dad to stay out of it too. But Adonis feels compelled to accept. He fires Rocky and retreats to Los Angeles with Bianca to get ready for the big match. How the events turn out forms Creed 2.

Creed is two fold haunting for both – Adonis and Rocky; both try to overcome the nasty shadow of Ivago knocking the bananas out of Apollo in round 2. The events still afresh, for Rocky its about bringing back those haunting memories and he does not want to go over that in this age and for the sake of Creed. Whereas for Creed, it seems to run in the family; he is compelled to accept it; to prove a point or avenge his father or that’s what the bloodline does. The stage for a fitting bout is set; in the ring between Adonis and Viktor and off the ring between Rocky and Ivago. If the film has a misstep, it’s the misuse of the women - Thompson and Rashad. It’s a shame that a film so deeply entrenched in machoism puts a sorry image on them and fails to give them their share of solidness.

But Creed II doesn't remake Rocky IV. Instead, Creed II amends Rocky IV's mistakes and adds new bursts of energy to an already restored franchise, by tapping into better fight choreography. But while Creed 2 gives you everything you want, it also gives you everything you expect, sticking so closely to the sports-movie template it’s possible to map out all 12 rounds from the opening bell to the end. Creed was an emotional movie, bringing back Rocky into the boxing world yet again reluctantly as he did in the first part. Creed 2 certainly has lost the element of surprise and tries to stick to being emotional yet courageous. That said the performances of the lead cast is a thing to watch out for it blows the boring parts of the movie and makes you wait for the perfectly choreographed final bout.

Verdict: Creed 2 is the path to fight the inner fear and how to overcome it, what better than facing it. Yet another stunning boxing choreography from the Rocky team.