Creed II (2018)

I guess this has to be the next story? How many more of these can they make? Supposedly, this is Stallone’s last.

The story is a bit forced. We needed a better reason for Creed to fight Viktor, and for Viktor to fight Creed. Rocky says it himself, there is no reason for Creed to fight Viktor. So there’s something missing there. And for Viktor, hearing Ivan say something like “My boy will bring honor back to my family and to Russia” would have helped define Viktor’s journey a little more clearly.

Jordan’s a physical presence, but I think he’s just OK in the role. They should have tried harder to establish Creed as a showboat like his father. They hint at it, yet his theatrical entrances into the ring are kind of tame compared to his father. After winning the championship at the beginning of the movie, he doesn’t even seem to realize it. He never talks to the public with confidence, and even in his relationships, he is humble and sincere. We have someone who is supposed to be a showboat but never really acts like one.

Viktor looking and acting mad all the time is just too easy. This is not how you make someone scary. And then we have family backstory that makes him a little bit more human and even less scary. He’s got the body, but I just didn’t buy his character.

Cool to see Ivan Drago again, though I would have liked to see even more tension between him and Rocky.

Kellerman brought some authenticity to it but screwed up one of his lines when he said that Creed was fighting Ivan Drago.

Bianca was perfectly moral and completely annoying. Either give her a flaw, or let’s spend less screen time with her. Rashad is similarly annoying, having played the same self-righteous character since The Cosby Show.

How come no one in public ever recognizes Rocky?

The boxing action is good, with POV shots that are pretty cool. But the training montages were weak.