"Creed II" Uses the Same Generic Formula, but the Performances, and the Fight Scenes are Consistently Impressive

By: Keaton Marcus

Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) and Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) in Creed II

Genre/Drama/Sports

Age Rating/12+

Lemonradar/68% sweet/sour

Introduction

Hi, this is Keaton Marcus from Sweet and Sour Movie Reviews and today I will be reviewing the sequel to the universally-acclaimed reboot/sequel to the Rocky franchise, Creed II. After the events of the first film, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) currently holds the title of the Heavyweight Champion of the World after wiping out Danny Wheeler, but when a new boxer by the name of Victor Drago, who he finds is the son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), the fighter that killed his father, Apollo Creed in the ring; Adonis must balance his family life with Bianca Creed (Tessa Thompson) and attempt to take the looming challenge of the Drago family.

How Was The Cast?

Returning to the now “epic” Rocky franchise, yet again with another impressive lead performance is Michael B. Jordan; The actor succeeds with the series once again, proving that Jordan never half-asses it in a lead role, even in his worst films to date. Tessa Thompson also returns to this solid sequel, the actress plays the main female role, Bianca Creed which is well-directed. Supporting the cast is the series veteran, Sylvester Stallone taking the commonly-known role of Rocky Balboa. Also, pleasant returns include actor Dolph Lundgren, playing Ivan Drago and actress Phylicia Rashad returning for the role of Mary Anne Creed. Jordan, known for his previous roles in Black Panther, Creed, Fahrenheit 451, Fantastic Four and Friday Night Lights is becoming a superstar, now having many lead performances, in money-making pics and even TV. Jordan held a compelling performance in the original flick, introducing the character of Adonis Creed to the big-screen with universal success (scoring a 84% “sweet” on the Lemonradar), praising his acting; In Creed II, the actor delivers a very solid performance, with exhilarating boxing sequences, a suitably ripped look for the new franchise hero, and wonderful chemistry with the talents within the cast, despite the less-than-stellar script by Juel Taylor, barely comparing to the original. In his other, previous films, Jordan starred in reboot attempt Fantastic Four, which had an expensive budget, and a decent performance by Jordan, but was overall a crummy third try to the franchise (scoring 30% “sour”); Otherwise, earlier this year, Michael offered an emotionally compelling, as well as violent villain in superhero pic Black Panther (scoring 85% “sweet”); Also this year, based off of the critically-acclaimed book, Jordan starred as Guy Montag in Fahrenheit 451, and while the actor was magnetic for the role, it disappointed compared to the novel (scoring 40% “sour”). In his newest effort, this is one of the best films the actor has performed in, and provides the only franchise in his career with very solid success. Known for her previous performances in Creed, Thor: Ragnarok, Annihilation, Westworld and Sorry to Bother You is actress Tessa Thompson who returns to the franchise in a more quiet, though well-done performance. In the first Creed flick, the actress brought a new supporting role to her career, a position in which Thompson thrives, striking the tone emotionally for audiences; In her newest film, Thompson delivers a very low-key, if well-directed performance as Bianca Creed, Adonis’ current wife which is pale compared to the original, but hits all the basic targets for the role. The actress’ career really got going in popularity after she played Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok (scoring 86% “sweet”) which was never in the shadow of even Chris Hemsworth’s massive performance as Thor, delivering a funny and charismatic presentation, her best performance to date, still standing. Thirdly, franchise veteran, Sylvester Stallone known for the original five Rocky films, Creed, the Expendables trilogy, and Bullet to the Head, was in need of another great film, or even franchise, and that is when Coogler’s Creed came along. In Creed II, it is a very assuring sign to see Stallone  in another big, not to mention good franchise, as the actor started his career slump after the first three Rocky pics (90%, 63% and 69%) with Rocky IV scoring 28%, and Rocky V scoring 20%. Stallone continues the franchise with a very impressive supporting performance in the “eighth” installment to the franchise (if you include Rocky Balboa) with a tightly-directed script, and a nostalgic outing for the actor. Actor Dolph Lundgren, returning to the franchise, after playing Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, is the infamous Russian boxer who killed Creed’s father, Apollo, in the ring delivers a cool, if very supporting implementation in Creed II, after acting in DC’s superhero pic Aquaman (86% “sweet”) a few weeks ago. Otherwise, actress Phylicia Rashad returns from the original Creed, to play Adonis’ mom, Mary Anne Creed. Although in both movies, the director seldom uses the talented actress, Rashad’s chemistry and natural charisma on-screen help audiences fit one more important, but rarely seen character in the franchise.

Quality

Directing Rocky was filmmaker John G. Avildsen, who also directed the fifth installment, while Sylvester Stallone made films 2-4 with mostly positive results. Director of critically-acclaimed superhero flick Black Panther, filmmaker Ryan Coogler delivered wonderous results in Creed, balancing a talented cast, a compelling script, appealing performances by Jordan and Stallone, while striking the tone emotionally, overall making another above-average Rocky installment; Filmmaker Steven Caple Jr., who delivers his first wide-release pic, Creed II; This sequel packs less-punch than the original installments, and Creed, mostly adheres to the franchise formula and turns out to be more of a drama pic than sports film, but delivers solid lead performances from Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson, exhilarating boxing sequences and a very well-told, albeit less-moving story. Offering another good Rocky pic, while never matching up to the original. In the Box Office, Creed II has grossed a fourth-to-best (in the franchise) of 114.388M domestically after its first 47 days in release, along with over 144M worldwide, on a 50M production budget; Compared to the previous installments, Rocky grossed 117.235M, Rocky II at 85.182M, Rocky III with 125.049M, Rocky IV with 127.873M, Rocky V at 40.946M, Rocky Balboa with 70.270M and Creed ending with an impressive 109.767M domestically. Storyline wise, Creed II has a less-compelling footing, and a generic plot will not help, but its nostalgic feeling, solid performances and a more low-key layout for the franchise, this solid sequel succeeds.

Aging ‘The Ring’

The film carries a reported MPAA rating of PG-13, and mostly stays true to the guideline, and is more-or-less similar to your run-of-the mill Rocky installment. The film includes some boxing violence, common, mildly used strong language and mild sexuality. The violence includes lots of scenes of intense boxing sequences, a spurt of blood is shown, and slow-motion is used for hard-hitting punches (for effect), there is also much pain caused in the intense training Adonis does, and after one fight Adonis loses and breaks ribs, ruptures kidneys and is shown very hurt in the hospital. Language wise, the film includes uses of s..t, hell, b..ch and damn, but is pretty mild. Sexuality wise, there is a passionate love scene between Adonis and Bianca, and while no nudity is shown, the basic layout is shown for some time.

Creed Showdown

Creed II 68% sweet/sour

Violence: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Language: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Sex: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Age Rating: 12+  

Creed 84% sweet

Violence: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Language: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Sex: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Age Rating: 11+

Creed II 68% sweet/sour

Storyline: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Cast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Creed 84% sweet

Storyline: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Cast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

News Related to Creed II

$plurge, $tream, $kip: Creed II lacks original punch, and adheres to franchise formula, but Michael B. Jordan’s compelling performance, exhilarating boxing sequences and solid storytelling make another above-average installment…$TREAM IT

Rated: PG-13

Run Time: 130 minutes

Director: Steven Caple Jr.