Review of Creed II (2018) by Brevin S — 18 Dec 2018

When the first Creed was released in theaters it had an explosion of success. With Coogler's expert direction the film managed to achieve an impressive amount of emotional depth from the audience. Every character interaction felt authentic, and you really could connect with them on some deeper more intrinsic level. Each of the fights carried with them some baggage that allowed us to really care about every confrontation.

With these high standards set it was easy to become hesitant of the second film's ability to live up to its predecessor. This only worsened when when Ryan Coogler made the decision to leave the project and so he could work on the now highly acclaimed "Black Panther." With so much going against the anticipated sequel one could come to believe that Creed 2 had a shot at becoming one of the worst movies of 2018 or at least the most disappointing.

Now after three years I can proudly say that Creed 2 does successfully capture the feeling of the first by choosing to be a story about a man becoming a father. Adonis's relationship with his wife, Bianca, is put to the test when Bianca gets pregnant with a baby. This is becomes a issue for the young Adonis as he wrestles with being a boxer and raising his son.

Things become increasingly more precarious when his father's killer, Ivan Drago, comes to town wanting a fight with Adonis pushing the young man to make some pretty tough decisions in his choice to avenge his father's name or to give it all up so that way he can be a husband to his wife and a father to his child. This becomes the emotional hook to carry the story and help us get more enraptured with these characters. In the end Creed 2 is a exceptional film with a lot of intense drama and truly impactful moments that will leave you on the edge of your seat wanting more.