Creed II

        Creed II takes place after the first Creed film which came out in 2015 and stars the same cast as before: Micheal B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, and Tessa Thompson with some new additions. This time the talents of Dolph Lundgren and Florian Munteanu are added as Ivan Drago, played by Lundgren, makes a return to the series and brings along his son, Viktor, played by Munteanu, to challenge Adonis Creed to a boxing match so the Drago's can bring respect back to their name. Creed is obviously provoked as Ivan Drago is the one who killed his father, Apollo, in an exhibition match 3 decades prior. If you can recall back to Rocky IV, after Apollo dies, Rocky takes up the challenge to fight Ivan so as to exact revenge for his fallen friend. He flies to Russia and, with great triumph, is able to defeat Ivan. With this new movie, a storyline is given for what happened after for Ivan. He brings dishonor to the Drago name and, as he raises Viktor, instills in himself an insatiable hatred that torments him for years to come.

        I grew up watching the Rocky movies multiple times because they were some of my father's favorite films. Naturally, I went into this one with some excitement since, if I'm being honest, I haven't exactly watched the first Creed movie all the way through. I've seen enough bits and pieces to have a basic understanding, but that is still something I need to cross off the list. Because of this, my experience going in might've differed from the rest of the audience members who more than likely watched the first film during its initial release. Without having a comprehension of Coogler's style, I'm going to do my best to not be overly critical since some things would probably make more sense upon viewing the original so I'll just dive right into it.

        I loved this movie. I loved almost everything about it. One thing I can say right off the bat is that this sequel is stepping in a direction that differentiates itself for the Rocky sequels in terms of execution. As the Rocky sequels would come out, they tended to get more absurd and "silly" with each entry which definitely contrasts the serious and more dramatic tones of the original that made it win Best Picture at the 1977 Oscars. They have a talking robot butler in the fourth movie if you need an example of what I'm talking about. Caple Jr.. the director of Creed II, is hopefully erasing the possibility of future sequels ( as if there needed to be another one) becoming that way since this entry stays grounded in drama that sprouts from its portrayal of the relationship between Rocky, Creed, and Bianca. Creed and Bianca take further steps in their relationship as a big fear of theirs becomes a reality. Rocky faces grief as he has to go through another segment in his life with the man that killed his best friend while also struggling to take that first step in calling his son. I don't think there needs to be any more movies, but if they do make them then I hope that they don't gradually become as absurd as the Rocky sequels did. Don't get me wrong. I love all the Rocky movies (Rocky V not as much), but it is something worth noting.

        One aspect of the movie that I found rather surprisingly deep was the time that it took to spend with the Drago's. At first, they come off as the typical villains of a boxing movie, but you start to see that Ivan is really is suffering from something other than hatred towards Rocky. I won't reveal more than that, but it adds more layers to their characters and after a while, I started to pity the Drago's, especially Viktor since he seems to be hiding a side of himself that maybe his father can't understand. 

        On the more technical side, there are numerous praiseworthy aspects about this movie. The acting is great and, much like the first Creed movie, Stallone is an excellent powerhouse of wisdom. 

        Many people, from what I've seen, have critiqued the movie for being formulaic. From my perspective, I think it's hard for a sports movie to stray away from the formula. Faulting a movie for following the structure of its respected genre is barely a credible critique in my opinion. Although it does prove qualitatively better for a movie to build new paths around its genre, it's not something that a movie should be heavily critiqued for. Nobody wants to see a skeleton, but you need it to function.  In Creed II's case, it is formulaic, but I'm not going to give it less of a score for being so. It's a sports movie. Even more so, it's a Rocky movie which means I'm expecting a training montage, some inspirational speeches here and there, and some well-shot fight scenes. Yes, formulas can be boring, but for this movie I'm cutting it some slack.
         This movie is a solid entry in the Rocky franchise. It's certainly nothing you haven't seen before, but the deep storytelling with its new and returning characters make it a more compelling sequel than most. I'm sure that you'll have a good time if you admire the franchise as a whole, but it's a great experience overall. 8.5/10