There will be no spoilers here, but when you go into Creed II don’t be upset with the predictable story and ending. You already know what is going to happen before you buy your ticket, so enjoy the gut-wrenching performance from Michael B. Jordan and bask in Sylvester Stallone playing the iconic Rocky Balboa one more time.
There is a lot to love and a lot to hate about this sequel. It felt more of the sequel we deserved after Rocky IV, while not living up to the first Creed movie. The story fell in line with so many other stories, I couldn’t tell if I was watching Rocky IV again with new characters, or if this was a stand-alone movie. Dolph Lundgren is back as Ivan Drago and his son Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu). The four pillars of the movie handle all the action sequences, while Jordan’s character adapts to a new life at home with his fiance and baby girl. This movie is more about family than boxing, but it is also focused on overcoming the personal demons that can consume boxers whether they are on top of the world or not.
The middle bout and epic conclusion could have played out a thousand other ways. Either way, they decided to run with it, the storylines that were created in this film and previous films were tied up nicely. Creed II could never live up to the original, much like Rocky II and all the other ones never could stand toe to toe with the original. It will be extremely interesting to see where the franchise goes from here because there was a small passing of the torch moment that had me in tears. Rocky is a hero to me and despite Stallone’s real age, I have to come to grips with this character won’t live forever. If Creed is meant to carry the franchise from here, I am fully on board, just hope they clean up some things for the next installment. 7/10
Ten Stars or Less 