Creed II

Just as the original 1976 Oscar-winning drama Rocky was followed by more crowd-pleasing but clichéd sequels, so too is 2015’s Oscar-nominated Creed followed by a more accessible, but no less satisfying or emotional, second chapter.

Premise:  Three years after the events of the first film, Adonis “Donnie” Creed (Michael B. Jordan) wins the world heavyweight boxing title with the help of his trainer Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), and proposes to his girlfriend Bianca (Tessa Thompson).  But a ruthless boxing promoter then starts hyping a fight with Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), the son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), the man who killed Donnie’s father in the ring 33 years ago.

Review:

Credit where credit’s due, this is the eighth film in the 42-year-old Rocky series, and it’s still one of the best.  Even more impressively, this works not only as the eighth Rocky film, but also as a direct sequel to both Creed and 1985’s Rocky IV.  The parallels between 1976’s Rocky and 2015’s Creed were fairly apparent in terms of plot and tone, even if Creed unquestionably brought a very different perspective to the material.  In Creed II, the filmmakers have attempted to create something which has both the emotion and character drama of Rocky and Creed, but also the more crowd-pleasing (if not entirely realistic) elements from the Rocky III and Rocky IV sequels.

In this regard, the film is a mixed success.  It doesn’t have quite the same level of emotional drama or realism of the first Creed film, but it still has a lot more than you might expect.  Equally, although the basic plot structure of the film is really predictable if you’ve seen any of the previous sequels, there’s no denying that there’s a real thrill in seeing it all unfold, even if you can pretty much predict from one scene to the next what’s going to happen (with some notable exceptions).

“…packs a few emotional punches in the second half…”

Once again, Michael B. Jordan carries the film, and although his storyline starts in a fairly predictable way, his character arc during the course of the film is really interesting and does pack a few emotional punches in the second half.  Sylvester Stallone has said publicly that this will be the last time he plays Rocky Balboa onscreen, and if he sticks to that, this film also acts as a really touching swansong for the character that he has played for over forty years.

It is a shame that the excellent Tessa Thompson doesn’t have more to do as Bianca, but you can see that the filmmakers were desperately trying to find enough worthy material for an actress of her calibre, even if they weren’t entirely successful (I wonder if there was more Bianca material left on the cutting room floor, given that the film already has a 130 minute run time).

“…Ivan & Viktor Drago have as moving an emotional journey as any of the protagonists…”

In terms of the cast, the real surprise for me was how good Dolph Lundgren and real-life boxer Florian Munteanu were as Viktor and Ivan Drago.  Lundgren may have infamously only had a few lines of dialogue in Rocky IV, but he more than makes up for that in Creed II with his layered and ultimately tragic portrayal of Ivan as a man who literally lost everything as a result of his defeat by Rocky Balboa 33 years ago.  Ivan’s channelled his bitterness and resentment, as well as his desperate need for validation, into his son Viktor, who has grown up hearing that they lost everything because of his father’s failure, and that victory is the only path to happiness.

Whereas Ivan Drago was essentially just a caricature in Rocky IV, he and Viktor have as moving an emotional journey in Creed II as any of the protagonists, and in fact, it’s their story that has stuck with me more since the end credits rolled.  Some have said that Florian Munteanu doesn’t get much to do other than look intimidating – but although it’s true that he doesn’t get many lines, his body language speaks volumes, showing that behind the confident façade Viktor is part scared child still searching for approval and affection, and part mistreated Pitbull ready to lash out at the slightest provocation.

“…more about the emotional journeys of the characters than the actual plot points…”

So yes, cynically speaking you could accuse this film of being predictable in terms of its plot, and it does follow a lot of the typical boxing/sporting drama tropes – but the film is really far more about the emotional journeys of the characters than the actual plot points.  The characters address a lot of emotional issues during the course of the film, and despite a rather clichéd first half, the second half does include quite a few surprises (including one event that, as far as I am aware, has never happened in a boxing drama before).

So while this might not match the grounded drama of the first Creed film, it still has more to say that you might expect it to – and the actual boxing matches pack all the adrenaline-fueled tension that you would hope they would.  All in all, Creed II balances its various elements well, and offers something for both the heart and the head.