Review of Creed II (2018) by Luke H — 25 Nov 2018

Creed 2 is the worst film in the series since "Rocky V". It lacks everything that made Creed a successful movie, and adds an hour and forty minutes of changes that were neither wanted nor needed.

It is completely devoid of character development, thorough fighting scenes, and the exciting journey of protagonist improvement and training; which are the attributes which make Rocky films enjoyable in the first place.

Instead we are given over an hour of a corny love story which was settled in the first film, as well as forced emotional segments which aren't believable even to the cast. The writers and production team had a true opportunity to give Viktor Drago an exciting and deep background story.

Instead they give him an ambiguous story and goal which is neither believable nor exciting, The worst part of the film is how predictable it is. Creed starts out lazy and arrogant, unwilling to train hard or take Drago seriously and gets injured.

Then Creed is mad at the world and becomes a nervous recluse, pissed off at the world and at Rocky for declining to train him. *Inserts an eon of marriage counseling*. Rocky decides to train him. *insert an uninspiring 6 minute training sequence in the desert with unknown characters*.

Creed is suddenly healed and in good shape again. They fight in Moscow, and Creed very predictably beats Drago. The last minutes of the film are geared towards resolving more emotional baggage. The only reason this gets two stars is because Bianca's character and Rocky were believable.

Everything else about the film felt rushed and unbelievable. Michael B Jordan's character was far less believable than the first film and he seemed like an angsty teenager. The fight scenes were not only cut short, but the worst in quality since Rocky V.

I went to see it for a second time to solidify my feelings of the film, and I would not recommend it to anyone.