Film Review | Creed II

Creed II is directed by Steven Caple Jr. and stars Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone.

Drama, Sport. Released 2018.

Creed II is the sequel to Creed (2015) and is a natural continuation of Adonis' story (Michael B. Jordan) both personal and professional, and under the guardianship of the legendary Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), Adonis prepares to face off against the son of Ivan Drago, the man who killed his father.

This film had a lot to live up to, since the first Creed from 2015 set the bar incredibly high. Creed is an incredibly well made and poignant character's journey, so I was excited and hopeful to see that journey progress in the same nature.

And with a bigger budget and more showy visuals, Creed II still manages to keep the very intimate, personal nature of its predecessor alive. The leading performance from Michael B. Jordan is slightly different to 2015 as a result of the first film's events, however still maintains it's quality and feels like a very natural development within the character.

Sylvester Stallone's eighth delivery of Rocky Balboa is better than ever, proving himself again to be the heart of this franchise even when he is not centre stage - he brings the character to a place where audiences feel like they know him, a testament to his moving, grounded portrayal of Rocky over several decades. Another standout performance is Tessa Thompson as Bianca, who gets a lot more to do in this film than in the first, and really proves that she is worth the additional screen time, thanks to her strong, fragile, and nuanced delivery.

Stallone’s screenplay - as usual - is incredibly well written thanks to the balance of character development and plot development, and how each affects the other. The bigger budget is evidenced in the incredibly riveting fight sequences in the ring, which is also a testament to Caple Jr.’s stellar direction and ability to elevate Stallone’s material to its full potential, widening the scope and raising the stakes in the process.

So, overall, Creed II is a perfect balance of emotional tenderness and thrilling fight scenes, and even though the development of plot is fairly predictable and it suffers from some typical tropes of a boxing film, the already-established characters make this film almost impossible not to find yourself emotionally committed to the story.

A-