IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (K. Turan) review
RogerEbert.com (O. Henderson) review
AVClub (J. Hassenger) review
Creed 2 [2018] (directed by Steven Caple Jr., story by Cheo Hodari Coker and Sascha Penn, screenplay by Sylvester Stallone and Juel Taylor, characters by Ryan Coogler) continues the generally satisfying Rocky franchise:
Adonis Johnson (played by Michael B. Jordon) son of Rocky Balboa's once great rival later fallen friend Apollo Creed first introduced to us in Creed [2015], is challenged by Viktor Drago (played by Florian Munteanu) son of Ivan Drago (played by Dolph Lundgren) the (Russian) fighter who had killed Apollo Creed in a boxing match and was finally bested by Rocky Balboa in Rocky 4 [1985].
It's a match made in fictionalized boxing (and actual Hollywood) heaven. However, as is ever the case in the Rocky franchise (and certainly the franchise's greatest and most redeeming charm) the actual match becomes almost beside the point, as both Adonis and Viktor were fighting other demons far closer to home.
Adonis, who was after all an illegitimate son of Apollo Creed and who had been portrayed in the previous film as having grown-up in various foster homes / institutions continues a still unfinished struggle, still largely unguided (though an aging Rocky, played still by Silvester Stallone, there in as much as he can to lend a helping hand) to achieve a more "normal," yes respectable life. He has a girlfriend, a singer named Bianca (played by Tessa Thompson), who's also struggling, among other things with hearing impairment. He feels he wants to marry her. She honestly asks the question, why? Soon a pregnancy, which becomes more complicated than perhaps initially expected, takes things to a new and quite poignant level.
Viktor, for his part, has been dealing with the effects of his father's "loss" to Rocky. After Ivan lost that fight, Ivan's wife, Viktor's mother (played in the film by Bridgette Nielson), left him (and Victor) as a loser. So Viktor has spent his entire life trying to redeem his father's (or at least his own) honor.
Some years ago, I've come to see these "boxing" / "fighting" stories as fundamentally tragic. So often BOTH of the "fighters" have compelling stories and honestly deserve "to win" and yet ... only one can.
So then this film to, while a fundamentally one (even as it is about a boxing match, it is also a sad one.
I do wish that both could win.
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