Not Quite Its Predecessor, But Close Enough To Still Be Great

Rating: 8/10 (22 November 2018)

The first Creed film, released in 2015, was masterful in crafting a new boxing tale for a new generation, all the while respecting the legacy that Sylvester Stallone had created for that universe. While Creed II may not quite nail that nearly perfect balance all the time, it does a remarkable job as sequels go.
For a basic plot summary, Creed II sees Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) now an established pugilist fighting for championships with Rocky Balboa (Stallone) still in his corner. At the same time, Adonis is taking the first steps toward family life with Bianca (Tessa Thompson). Out of nowhere (well, the deep recesses of the old Soviet Union, to be more specific), old Balboa nemesis Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) and monstrous son Viktor (Florian Munteanu), also a fighter, show up to challenge Donnie to a match. With the legacy of his father and name on the line, Donnie ultimately accepts the challenge...but this time "Unc" (Rocky) will not support him.
To me, the first Creed was an Oscar-worthy (if not winning, sadly) type of film. Creed II isn't quite that "tight", but it still makes enough interesting choices and creates genuine emotion to be a great film.
Thematically, the movie is kind of a mashup of themes from Rocky II, III, & IV, what with Adonis coming to terms with family life, struggling to recapture that "eye of the tiger", if you will, and finally confronting the paternal demons that continue to haunt him. For the most part, director Steven Caple Jr. deftly balances all those themes. Then, of course, there is the presence of Stallone's Rocky himself, which is always in danger of being a distraction to the overall proceedings but never comes close to that, due to solid writing and Stallone's just general understanding of the character. "Legacy characters" can often bog down films they appear in, but the exact opposite happens here: when Rocky is on-screen, his mannerisms and dialogue are an absolute delight.
One filmmaking choice I really enjoyed was the focus on the Drago family. Starting the entire picture off with them really set a tone that was doggedly pursued throughout. To be completely honest, I actually think that this angle could have been played up even more over the course of the movie, as it was fascinating to me how Viktor's journey compared to that of Adonis's. I realize why it didn't comprise a larger portion of the action (most people watching this film likely do not know all the implications of the Drago name in this franchise), but for the die-hards it easily could have. As it stands, that family plot still works just well enough to pay off in the end.
Overall, I came into Creed II with admittedly impossibly high expectations considering my reverence for the original. While I can't say that it checked every box quite as perfectly as that Ryan Coogler-directed previous installment did, it comes close enough to still maintain that sense of gravitas and emotion all the way through. Whether you've been a fan of Rocky since 1976 or are coming to the entire franchise through the Creed side of things, you'll be entertained and moved by the experience here.