Worth watching but ultimately misses the mark

Rating: 7/10 (25 November 2018)

I'm so sick of these ostentatious reviews - either flaming with heat or slathering with praise. To be clear, I'm no critic but I'm not easily impressed and tend to judge movies accordingly. This isn't an Oscar winner. This isn't a better movie than Creed. This certainly isn't more entertaining than Rocky IV. But, if you liked the first one, this will certainly be watchable.
The biggest downfall of this movie, aside from the predictability, and boy is it ever predictable, is the matchup between Creed and Drago. Although there is backstory to lend credibility to this bout, it all comes off so forced. I think this is in part to Drago himself - who although a physical gargantuan, never seem to convey any real truth behind the motives of fighting Creed. They tried to capture the spirit of Rocky IV, but didn't come close to capturing it's magic.
Acting is good, music/soundtrack works well, cinematography is beautiful, the fights are engaging but I would tend to agree that the fights themselves are a bit sloppy and not technically tight. Again, this isn't movie of the year but more than a turn-your-brain-off summer blockbuster.