Bryan Davis
Staff Writer
Before choosing to go see Creed II, keep in mind that it is basically impossible to make a boxing movie that isn’t full of boxing movie cliches. That being said, Creed II still packs one hell of a punch, and it turned out to be the most entertaining fighting movie I’ve seen in awhile.
Although this film has many things going for it, the fighting element and the story may be a bit predictable. The emotional element, on the other hand, is captivating and even surprising at times.
We join Adonis Creed, who is still striving to make a name for himself, following the typical format of the Creed movies.
After Sylvester Stallone publicly announced he would be hanging up his black fedora and saying goodbye to Rocky Balboa for good, it is clear that the Creed series wants to be more than just a Rocky spin-off series. “Creed II” achieves this: the ending of this movie proved very effective at making me crave more.
This time, Adonis faces the offspring of the man that murdered his father. Viktor Drago, the son of “The Siberian Express” Ivan Drago, is just as monstrous and dangerous as you would expect.
Also just like his father, Viktor is a man of very few words, but he has an interesting and surprising backstory that felt easy to sympathize with. Dolph Lundgren wears his punchable smirk better than ever returning back to the iconic role of Ivan Drago.
One of the things I would assume most fans are eager to see from “Creed II” is the moment Rocky comes face to face with his most dangerous opponent ever once again after all these years.
As a huge lifelong Rocky fan, this particular moment turned out to be everything I had hoped it would be. Not only was it an amazing scene, it solidified Rocky Balboa as one of my all time favorite movie characters.
Yes, Stallone is great as usual, but his performance takes a back seat to the performances of Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson. With chemistry that is so electric, the incredible acting displayed by these two is worth ticket price alone.
They’re the type of movie couple you wish actually dated in real life. This time around, Adonis and Bianca take on many new challenges together, including being very believable first-time parents.
Although this may in fact be Jordan’s best performance of his career so far, Tessa Thompson steals the show. Back as Bianca, she puts the character of Adrian Balboa to shame by being quite the fighter herself, not to mention a very successful and talented singer.
Ironically, Thompson’s physical performance turns out to be more powerful than Jordan’s, even though he is the one that goes through some of the most intense physical challenges imaginable. Those include some insanely motivating training scenes that might be the new gold standard for fighting movies.
Be careful, after seeing this movie, you might be forced to really think about improving your own workout routine, just like I did.
If you’re a fan of uplifting movies full of heart, you’ll love this movie, even if you’re not a fan of the Rocky series. It is entertaining as hell and just as powerful as the punches from Victor Drago himself.
