Vintage Meets Modern In This Brilliant Sequel

Rating: 10/10 (4 December 2018)

In an age of constant reboots, Creed II is the franchise movie we both need and deserve; it neither panders to millenials to appear "hip", nor trashes its less popular entries in a desperate attempt at validation for elitist fanboys, nor rehashes the original film to satisfy a misplaced sense of nostalgia. Instead, it's a film that loves its franchise for reasons of merit beyond those superficially applied by those outside the true fandom. Creed II is the Attack of the Clones of the Rocky franchise. If you know my stance on Attack of the Clones, you'll know that title is nothing but complimentary. The basis of this argument being that both are sincere tributes to vintage film (40s-60s cinema for Clones, 70s-80s cinema for Creed) with modern filmmaking conventions. (State of the art CGI for AOTC, modern rap and R&B discography for Creed, advanced fighting choreography and modern characterization for both.)
Creed II and Attack of the Clones also both make the effort to critique the toxic and negative affects of being raised in a society that values you only for your abilities. Viktor Drago's manipulations and emotional abuse at the hands of his trainers and extended family keep him underdeveloped both socially and emotionally. He is a tool to them, a prize bull much in the same manner Anakin Skywalker was to the Jedi Council. Though Viktor is very much the antagonist of the film, he remains deeply sympathetic. In previous Rocky films, I always knew whose side I was on. In Creed II, I had no desire to see Viktor defeated or sent home to the shame of the ones who claimed to value him. Ivan Drago is similarly human; a victim of systemic abuse and manipulation who has inadvertently brought his son into the same abusive, destructive cycle. Contrary to popular opinion, Drago definitely had sympathetic qualities in Rocky IV. Here, however, is where we see them fully realized. Adonis Creed is an equally complex character, his sensitive, awkward and almost feminine nature out-of-the-ring is intriguingly paradoxical to his more masculine sense of ego and all-consuming need for victory and validation. His relationship with Rocky takes on an Anakin/Obi Wan angle, the reckless and rebellious apprentice to a strict and overly protective father figure. Even the lovely Bianca Taylor seems fairly reminiscent of Clones' Padme Amidala, a deeply pragmatic, wise and mature professional slowly learning to open up more emotionally and grow more human. She retains an oddly dominant role in her relationship with Adonis, a far cry from the more traditional gender values of Rocky & Adrian's relationship in the original Rocky films (This is hardly a slight against that romance, which was indeed quite sweet, merely an observation.)
Michael B. Jordan gives the performance of his career here. Creed II is a much darker film than its predecessor with higher emotional stakes and Jordan definitely understands that in his commanding, powerful acting here. His more confident and impassioned delivery in public constrasts wonderfully with his more shaky, nervous and awkward delivery around Bianca, wonderfully conveying a man whose confident in his athletic abilities, but insecure in his role as a husband and father. His facial acting is absolutely tremendous as well, his distraught and horrified expressions in the Hospital scene reacting to Rocky's previous abandonment are some of the best acting of the year.
It's Dolph Lundgren, however, who steals the show in the acting department. He proves here that he's far more than just chiseled muscle, his tormented and nuanced facial expressions and sorrowful eyes giving Drago a real sense of emotional and ethical conflict we only saw glimpses of before. His vocal delivery has more pathos and pain than we've seen from the character before, even in his more cocky or angry moments, his insecurity from abandonment and the guilt over his past and what he's done to his own son still hangs over his vocal performance. This is a smarter, more broken, more human Drago than we could have ever expected following his brutal killing of Apollo Creed in Rocky IV. His tortured reaction to his son Ivan's fight with Adonis almost made me feel guilty for not rooting for him.
The rest of the case fares wonderfully. Tessa Thompson brings an extremely commanding screen presence and aura of strength to her role (Not to mention a perfect singing voice. I Will Go To War is Academy Award for Best Song material), Sylvester Stallone perfectly balances between dopey comedic timing and honest emotional poignancy, even first time actor Florian Munteanu does an excellent job portraying the angst and loneliness of the son forced to carry his father's sins. I almost feel bad singling out Lundgren and Jordan when every actor here is clearly excellent.
The romance in Creed II feels especially reminiscent of the aforementioned Attack of the Clones, which is a good thing. The adorable awkwardness of Adonis and Bianca's interactions and the innocence of their relationship is unexpected and refreshing in a film like this, subverting the expectations of a cliched, boring "jock and R&B star" love story. Despite (Or possibly because of) their fame, both Adonis and Bianca are somewhat socially stunted, which lends a real sincerity to their more romantic and loving moments. It only helps that Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson have precious chemistry.
While not quite reaching the heights of Ryan Coogler's 2015 film, Creed II is still an emotional, dark, thoughtful and mature sequel and one of the best films in the franchise. Anybody considering themselves a fan of the series, anybody who considers themselves a sports movie fan, should count this as a must watch.