Creed 2 is a solid follow up, but not quite a K.O.

Rating: 7/10 (4 December 2018)

"Creed" is a brilliant way to continue the long-running and often parodied "Rocky" saga. Creed 2 sees Apollo's son continue on in his journey to find his own path and establish his own legacy in the ring, and how that fits in with what his father did before him. Creed 2 has some solid developments in Adonis Creed and Rocky's story, and is filled with continuity and references to the entire Rocky series that longtime fans will appreciate, but the nostalgia-factor also hurts it to a degree as well.
If you've seen the other Rocky films, then you'll be able to tell right off the bat what's going to happen. To be fair, in the boxing genre, there's only so many things that can happen in the storyline that can make it interesting. After all, for the actual sport itself, there's only 3 outcomes: -win, -lose, -draw. The main draw of the Rocky/Creed franchise has always been *how* the main character gets to where he is, and what circumstances surround his life at the time of the fight, not whether or not he wins.
Creed 2 borrows the idea of the lead getting too comfortable and too soft from success, and having to deal with a physically larger, intimidating new challenger from Rocky 3, and it borrows the Drago characters, the protagonist's shift towards a new, more grueling training method, and cultural differences/tensions (although to a lesser degree) from Rocky 4. It's like a remix of them both with Creed in the lead, instead. I will say that if you're new to the franchise and don't realize that the series is referencing itself (Star Wars: Force Awakens, anyone?), you might get more out of the storyline than someone like me who's seen every entry in the series.
The cast carries Creed 2 along, and every single one of them delivers and knows what fans want from these beloved characters. The last Creed saw the dynamic of Rocky having to fight cancer, which contrasted with Creed building himself as a fighter, but this time there isn't quite as interesting of a driving conflict to push things along. It's interesting to see how Drago ended up, and there's a good attempt to show that Drago's son isn't as malicious or intentionally mean as his father, but because of that, the over-the-top rage and drama of Part 4 isn't there, but the more subdued drama of other entries of the series doesn't quite fill that void as well. There's talk of Creed needing to change his boxing style, but stylistically, we don't see him learning that many actually new techniques or new strategy in detail, like Rocky does in the other films when he adapts to new opponents. The training sequence in the desert is good, but as a boxing fan, I would've liked to see them break down his training more and show the audience Creed truly changing as a fighter. (Side note: while still in incredible shape and doing a great job overall, it might just be me, but it seemed like Michael B. Jordan's hands were faster in the first Creed, just my opinion.)
What's missing from Creed 2 is the touch of director Ryan Coogler. As seen from Black Panther, Coogler works really well with Michael B. Jordan, and the difference in feeling between both 1 and 2 is visible and tangible. It's a shame that Stallone himself couldn't direct Creed in Coogler's absence, since Stallone is the one who created these characters after all, and would presumably know them better than anyone else. The cast and their commitment to their parts, as well as the overall context within the Rocky story propel it further than being just average for me, but I would say that boxing-drama/Rocky fans will get the most out of this sequel, and that the more casual viewer could stick with the first Creed. The next Creed should make a plan to hit a little harder when it steps into the ring.