A fine sequel to an enduring myth about the American dream.
Creed II
Grade: B
Director: Stephen Caple (The Land)
Screenplay: Sylvester Stallone (Rocky), Juel Taylor
Cast: Michael B. Jordan (Creed) Stallone
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hr 10 min
By: John DeSando
“It may not seem like it now, but... this is more than just a fight.” Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan)
Creed II is indeed more than just about boxing. As in the previous seven Rocky-related films, it’s about the people and not just winning or losing matches, be they championships or not. Initially Creed II is about Adonis, son of the ill-fated Apollo Creed, having a child with singer Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and challenges about the baby’s potential hearing handicap inherited from mom.
That’s the fight in the first part, not terribly exciting and tedious at times. When the film moves on to the re-match fight between Creed and Viktor Drago (mountainous Florian Munteanu), the film crackles with anticipation as Creed must defend his world title against an antagonist who covets the approval of his country and his family after his father, Ivan (Dolph Lundgren), lost to Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) three decades ago.
Although Creed II could be taken as a tract about letting the past go, it is far more about having faith in oneself and putting family first. Lightly-experienced director Stephen Caple shows himself quite capable of filming fight sequences with ballet and emotional qualities not seen in rougher depictions such as in Raging Bull.
Co-writer Stallone, as he has done with previous Rocky stories, is adept at wringing sentimentality and wisdom out of the dialogue. Ivan laments to Rocky what his defeat cost him in Russia: “Because of you... I lose everything. My country. Respect. You ever see stray dogs in the Ukraine? They go for days without food. People spit on them, they are nothing. No home. Only will to survive... to fight.” Stallone invests his antagonist with sympathy while he provides the reason for Ivan’s fierce desire to win.
As the most recent iteration of the Rocky myth, Creed II is serviceable and at times poignant. The glue for this modest greatness is Sylvester Stallone, a writer of note and a one-note actor who nonetheless imbues the champ and his "progeny" with grit and hope.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
