As predictable as it is enjoyable

Rating: 6/10 (3 December 2018)

"Creed II" (2018 release; 130 min.) brings the on-going story of Creed. As the movie opens, we are in "Kyiv, Ukraine", where we see.... Drago (!) and someone we presume to be his grown-up son, getting up and go our for training. We then switch to Creed, now a lifetime 23-1. getting ready for a world heavyweight championship fight, which he wins fairly easily. Meanwhile, Creed is getting ready to propose to Bianca, whom we also learn is pregnant... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie, but to reveal more of the plot should spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this latest installment in the (never-ending?) Rocky-Creed franchise is directed by up-and-coming Steven Caple Jr., although truth be told, the presence of Sylvester Stallone (who co-stars and co-wrote the script) is never far away either. Rocky is still doing his thing at Adrienne's Restaurant, with the occasional mentoring/managing of Creed. The parallels between this film and 1986's "Rocky IV" are uncanny. It also makes this film utterly predictable. But don't say that it's not enjoyable, because it is quite enjoyable. It's really interesting to see how carefully the Rocky franchise essentials are being used and protected in the continuation of that franchise that is "Creed". I find the return of Dolph Rundgren (as the original Drago) and, in a much smaller role, Brigitte Nielsen (as Drago's ex, and of course ex-Mrs. Stallone in the real world) quite good. By the time we get to the glorious last fight, I am emotional "all in". Now we'll have to wait 2-3 years for the next installment of this franchise...
"Creed II" opened wide (and commercially successful) over the Thanksgiving weekend. The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati during its second weekend was attended okay (about 20 people). If you have seen any of the prior Rocky/Creed movies and count yourself a fan of them (and you know who you are!), I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DBD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.