Film Review - Creed II (12A)

He broke things in me that ain't never been fixed.

I was there when it all went down first time around. When Apollo Creed was knocked to the canvas by Ivan Drago, never to rise again. When Rocky Balboa  - the 'Italian Stallion' -  returned to the ring to avenge his friend before a partisan Moscow crowd. When he damn well won the Cold War for the USA, in spirit at least. I witnessed every drop of sweat and blood those mad Titans spilt - from my seat in the Iveagh Cinema, Banbridge, circa 1985. It was wildly over-the-top for sure, a long way from the urban grit of the original Rocky, but damn was it thrilling too.

Now thirty-three years later Soviet colossus Drago (Dolph Lundgren) is back for vengeance-by-proxy. In Creed II Apollo's son Adonis 'Donnie' Creed (Michael B. Jordan) is punching his full heavyweight in the boxing world - mentored by Rocky himself (Sylvester Stallone back in the role that defined him) and hoping to settle with his singer-girlfriend (Thor Ragnarok's now thoroughly famous Tessa Thompson). But then the Russian nemesis of the father he never knew throws down a terrifying challenge. Drago has a son of his own, named Viktor, who looks like he's been created in an iron foundry, and who has been trained with the express purpose of defeating Creed junior. Don't do it, the older/wiser Rocky advises, but Donnie has blood in his eye and sets out to avenge his late dad. 

2015's Creed proved a wonderful surprise. Here was a film that reinvigorated the Rocky franchise while tapping into what made us love it in the first place - namely heart and soul. The biggest compliment I can give Creed II is that it doesn't let its predecessor down (hooray!), acting rather as an enthralling companion piece. It teases out character threads from the first and deepens established relationships, while introducing fascinating new ones. 

Director Steven Caple Jr. does a creditable job in his first major studio gig, retaining the grainy blue-collar sensibility of the Ryan Coogler original and supplying the fight sequences with sufficiently bruising authenticity. (If he doesn't yet have Coogler's stature, he's on the way to achieving those heights.) Co-written by Stallone the movie delves into familial bonds and pressures like never before, while supplying each of its central characters with depth and believability. Yes there's lots of intergenerational dude-stuff going on, but it's leavened by a beautifully developed relationship between Donnie and Bianca, detailing their joys and travails as a couple and taking them in some unexpected directions. 

Jordan, the other side of his Black Panther triumph, lives the title role, bringing both charisma and vulnerability along with the brawn. Stallone meanwhile is predictably great as Rocky, the old warhorse turned trainer and surrogate dad. But oddly enough it's another father-son combo that stole the film for me - that of team Drago. Three decades have transformed Ivan from the cartoon-style machine he was in Rocky IV into something very different and way more interesting; rather than simply a pair of brutal antagonists, he and his boy Viktor have understandable motivations for their actions. The result is a climactic fight sequence where you feel properly invested in both contestants. Now that's some good screen-writing.

It's one of Creed II's main strengths - the amount of character detail introduced in between all the power-punching, so that those punches carry emotional weight. Another is the fact that while the film followed a seasoned Rocky formula, it finds clever ways of subverting expectation - never anything major, but enough to provide an element of pleasant surprise. Caple Jr, Stallone and co provide just enough variation on a much-loved theme to let you thoroughly enjoy it all again. And when a certain familiar musical theme kicks in towards the end, you'll feel that Donnie Creed has more than earned it. The Balboa mantle has truly been passed on.

Gut Reaction: A lot of wincing, as particularly brutal hooks and upper-cuts were landed. But this movie punched me right in the feels as well.

Where Are the Women?: Thompson is terrific and given proper space to develop as Bianca. And Phylicia Rashad is wonderfully knowing as Donnie's seen-it-all mom.

Ed's Verdict: 7.5/10. This could have made original Creed less than it was. Instead it enhances everything, while taking storylines from the daft Rocky IV and giving them some gravitas. Result - another knockout.