Creed II – A Spoiler-free Review

Creed II is only the second feature film by Steven Caple Jr and is the second installment in the franchise that has re-invigorated the story of Rocky and branched off with a new protagonist Adonis Creed. The story is set not long after the events of the fist film, and we see Adonis progressing in his career when a new challenge tied to his past comes along and he’s got to, once again, tackle it head-on.

Here’s the official synopsis via IMDB: 

Under the tutelage of Rocky Balboa, light heavyweight contender Adonis Creed faces off against Viktor Drago, son of Ivan Drago.

I was a bit concerned going in to this film, and had moderate expectations because I knew Ryan Coogler would not be at the helm for the sequel. I had some faith considering that the main cast all came back and they did such an amazing job with the first film, it was bound to be half decent at least.

I ended up being quite surprised by this film. It’s really good; one always expects a sequel to be worse than the first installment in a successful franchise (The Godfather aside) but this film proves that a sequel can in fact be a great film too.

ICYMI: CLICK HERE TO READ OUR REVIEW FOR THE FIRST CREED FILM

Firstly, the producers and writers (including Ryan Coogler) made sure they picked the perfect story line for the sequel in that Adonis has to take on the son of the man who killed his father in the ring.

Instead of going in a different direction, the filmmakers doubled down on the conflict within Donny, fighting against the shadow of his father’s legacy (and death) while striving to carve his own path and build his own legacy through his actions.

So it’s safe to say that with this story and script, they had a really good shot straight out of the gate. This, coupled with stellar direction from Steven Caple Jr makes for an entertaining film that’s action-packed with heartfelt moments between the characters at various moments in the film.

Creed II does not have the finesse that Coogler brings to his films, but much like Adonis does in the film, director Steven Caple Jr carves his own path and brings his unique style to the film, albeit a safer approach.

The film is predominantly a drama more than it is a film about fighting, and the performances from all of the key cast members feel like these are real people who are family; even the so-called villain characters had a lot of depth to them with a unique story and compelling motivations.

While Stallone got the Oscar nomination for supporting actor for the original film, the sequel gives Michael B. Jordan a lot more to play with this time around, and his performance is the one that shines, rightly so as he’s the lead character.

Overall, Creed II doesn’t really have much of a down side with a great story and script, awesome acting and chemistry between the actors, and a director who has proven he’s quite capable of filling some really big shoes.

Creed II is definitely a knockout and you should check it out as soon as possible!

Rating: 8.5/10

You can watch the trailers for Creed II below:

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