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Creed II Review

By Bryan Weatherall | December 9, 2018

Creed II Is a film which comes directed by Steven Caple Jr., of which this is really his major film as he’s mostly done short films in the past. Creed II stars Sylvester Stallone, Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson Dolph Ludgren and Florian Munteanu. The film takes place in the Rocky universe of films and while it’s the second in the Creed series it is the 8th in the Rocky franchise.

Going in to see this film at the cinema had me very excited. I am a big fan of the Rocky character and love it every time we get to re-visit the universe Sylveser Stallone created. The first film of the Creed series was quite good (see Petey’s Review here) and I was very impressed with it back when I first watched it. For the second one I had about the same expectations that this would be something pretty good and I’m happy to say that it was.

In this film, Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) is dealing with a lot of different things at once. His character is getting closer to Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and the two are looking like they’re getting ready to start a family. Adonis is world champion and everything is great. But then Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), who is the son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) shows up and challenges Adonis for the title. The problem with this is that Ivan Drago was the man who killed Adonis’ father back in Rocky IV. So the fight brings a lot of emotions out for both Adonis and his trainer Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) to overcome.

I thought that generally the plot for Creed II was quite good. In some ways it follows a similar formula to what we’ve become used to with the Rocky franchise, but it does work very well. There’s a lot of heart to the story and there’s great meaning behind each of the characters and who they are. I’ve always loved the Rocky films for the great messaging they deliver to the audience relating to determination, perseverance, motivation and focus. There’s also strong themes in the film about the importance of the family and caring for those important people in your life. All of this in combination, makes Creed II quite a nice film experience at the cinema and one with a lot of heart in it.

The actors are all quite good. Michael B. Jordan had a tough role to play in Creed II and did well in both the physical aspect and the more dramatic scenes. It was great to also see Sylvester Stallone back again on the big screen playing one of his most iconic characters again. Tessa Thompson also does quite well and there’s quite a few musical parts for her character in this film, which she does perform well in Creed II. These three actors seemed to fit on screen well together and I enjoyed everyone else too.

The action and the actual fights in this are decent. It was interesting to see Michael B. Jordan go up against Florian Munteanu who is a giant really.

Overall I thought that Creed II was a film with an excellent story and a lot of heart. All of the actors were great on screen, especially Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson and Sylvester Stallone. The fight between Forian Muntenanu and Michael B. Jordan’s characters is certainly one to see at the cinema. Most viewers will get a lot out of this film experience. It’s worth it re-watching Creed I and also Rocky IV before going in to see this film if you want to refresh a little on the lore, but it’s not essential. I highly recommend going in to see Creed II at the cinema if you can this week. It’s a decent film experience and I loved it.