Creed II Review

   Who does not love a heart warming underdog story? For years, the Rocky series gave boxing and movie fans alike great productions full of action and great storylines.

   Now in the modern era, the Rocky movies have been somewhat replaced by a new series, with a new main character; Adonis Creed (played by Michael B. Jordan). Creed is the son of one of Rocky’s opponents, Apollo Creed. In the first Creed movie, Adonis Creed begins his boxing career with Rocky as his trainer. Creed becomes an instant phenomenon for the reputation given to him by his father, the former heavyweight champion. Creed gets a heavyweight title shot in the end of the film, but he inevitably loses an epic battle against “Pretty” Ricky Conlan. Conlan was heavily favored, but Creed held his own, which gave him some credibility going into the second movie.

   When the second movie picks up, Creed is in the locker room preparing for another title shot against Danny “Stuntman” Wheeler. There was time in between the two movies though, as Creed had won six fights since the fight against Conlan. Creed goes on to knockout Wheeler in the fourth round, clinching the heavyweight title. Creed was on top of the world, and after the fight, he proposed to his girlfriend Bianca (played by Tessa Thompson). She agrees to marry him, which even further enhances Adonis’ high quality of life. But, this high would soon all come crashing down, as there was a big storm coming.

   Back in the Rocky movies, Apollo was a significant character. He and Rocky had a friendship built through their illustrious boxing careers. In the fourth movie, Apollo takes a fight against a physically demeaning Russian boxer named Ivan Drago. In the fight, Apollo is demolished. He is beaten so badly that he dies in the ring. Later in the movie, Rocky gets revenge for his dead friend though, defeating Draco in the way of a knockout. How does this tie into Creed II though? In Creed II, just after winning the heavyweight title, Adonis is challenged by the son of Ivan Drago, Viktor Drago. Viktor is as intimidating as his dad, and then some. But Adonis, wanting revenge, takes the fight in hopes to honor his father. Rocky was totally against the fight and declined to train Creed.

   In the first fight, Creed lets his emotions take control of him as he is battered badly by Drago, but luckily for Adonis, he is able to hold onto the title belt despite the “loss”, due to a late hit that disqualified Draco. The rest of the movie is filled with training, Creed establishing his relationship with Rocky, and most importantly, Creed finding motivation in the birth of his newborn daughter. He takes a second fight against Drago in Russia and defeats him in submission.

   This movie was filled with a vast amount of appealing elements. Not only was it an inspiring underdog story, but it always had aspects geared towards anyone. The emotion shown between characters made it an intense film inside and outside of the boxing ring. The character development portrayed by almost every character made the story dynamic and kept the viewers on the edge of their seats for the entire film. This is a movie that any movie lover would enjoy, and I recommend it 10/10 for anyone interested in seeing it.