Last month, I actually watched all of the Rocky franchise in anticipation of this film. It wasn’t the initial plan, but I wanted to write them all up for the blog. There’s def enough to differentiate them all, and immediately following, I had opinions. Then I got lazy. So it’s not happening. But I will talk about Creed II.
Picking up some time after Creed (the second best film in the entire franchise, I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader to guess the first), Adonis Creed is on top of his game and on top of the world. So of course that means someone wants to bring him down. Enter Viktor Drago, son of and coached by Ivan Drago, the man who killed Donnie’s father Apollo Creed in the ring. In other words, brush up on your Rocky IV. Otherwise, if you’re lost, you’re lost.
Sitting in this theater, I was completely with it. Esp at the inevitable moment when the trumpet blasts of Rocky’s theme come in, you can’t help but be swept up in the emotion of the moment. And it’s all emotion getting to that moment, because we love these characters so much. They’re the reason the series is so uplifting, and Creed II is not exception. Donnie and Bianca’s story gets deeper, and Donnie’s relationship with Rocky gets rocky, and Donnie’s place in his dad’s legacy evolves.
However, once it was all over and I was thinking back on it, I realized a few things. The movie is predictable like whoa. At the start of every scene, I could usually guess where it was gonna go. Secondly, I don’t think there was anything truly new here (with the exception of how the Drago father/son relationship resolved, which I very much loved). Yes, we’re taking Donnie to new places, but Rocky’s been there before.
Still none of that mattered in the moment. The movie did what it set out to, which was to uplift and entertain, but it won’t be as memorable a chapter as its predecessor. And that’s okay.
Creed II – \m/ \m/ \m/ \n