Why wasn't it good? Let me explain.

Rating: 6/10 (28 February 2019)

The 'look' and 'feel' of the film is well done. The directing and cinematography was above par. The story was good enough..... But ultimately, i found myself bored throughout the film. Why? What was wrong? Its not easy to put my finger on it, but if I had to throw out a theory, Michael B. Jordan is what was wrong, both portrayal and the writing of his character.
Look, he seems like a nice guy. He's fit. He's popular. I'm sure the ladies like to look at him... But he's not an actor. I won't even say that he's a 'bad' actor, because i don't find his film appearances to classify as acting, good, bad, or otherwise. He's a just a face. I can't really buy into the character, because its so surface level. There's nothing there. So, its not believable. Its almost cartoonish.
There's a problem, when the audience is exponentially more emotionally involved and empathetic to the Viktor Drago character, who is supposed to be the villain, and rarely even speaks! Even Ivan Drago was a character who the audience could relate to where he was coming from. But the Jordan character, carrying over the exact same drama from the first film, "Why do you want to fight?" "I don't know" themes get tiring. In fact, those same questions still haven't been answered. Even though the movie tries to show Jordan's motivations several times, never once are we led to any conclusion about his inner thinking.
I think everything i'm saying was a possible issue in the first film, but there was enough going on, that it wasn't a deal-breaker. But now, with a second movie, and the same issues, not addressed, it becomes a problem.
Just think of the other Rocky movies. Stallone is a good actor. The audience is emotionally invested. But can you honestly say that people 'like' the character of Adonnis Creed? There's nothing there.