Let’s talk about Sylvester Stallone.
Sly’s career can be defined almost entirely by ups and downs—from
breaking into the moviegoing consciousness off the bat almost with the seminal
original Oscar-winning Rocky, to testing the limits of mullet-powered silliness
with the Rambo sequels, to eventually slumping in the nineties with abysmal
black holes like ‘Stop or My Mom will Shoot’ and glorious cheesefests like
Judge Dredd. Then he came back up with some pretty solid comebacks for his
classic roles in the form of Rocky Balboa and Rambo 4, followed by the
Expendables. And then he slumped again with forgettable flops like Bullet to
the Head. And then he got back up with the very well executed Ryan
Coogler-directed Rocky continuation Creed, back in 2015.
You get the idea. Point being, much like Rocky himself,
Stallone has never been one to give up—and that brings us to the main star of
Creed, Michael B. Jordan. Much like Stallone starting out in porn, Jordan had
his own severe stinker with that 2015 Fantastic Four movie most people can only
watch with vodka and a toilet seat to slam their heads against. Come his
acclaimed performance in Creed, and he too went on the rise, starring in
Marvel’s next money pit filler Black Panther. And though I personally felt he was
somewhat under-used in that one, it certainly makes him a name many around the world
are familiar with.
That brings us to Creed II—I was unsure if it would truly
live up to the first, but there was one thing that certainly grabbed my
attention, as a fan of the Rocky series on both a serious and guilty pleasure level.
And that’s the return of Swedish colossus Dolph Lundgren, He-Man himself, as
Soviet super-boxer Ivan Drago, albeit in a different position this time.
Considering that Drago was the epitome of 80s cartoon villains in live-action,
it sure as hell made me curious to see how they would execute in the more
naturalistic direction Rocky Balboa and Creed took things.
The answer is—pretty decently, all things considered. Here,
Jordan continues as Adonis Creed, the ascending boxing champion who also
happens to be son to Rocky’s former rival Apollo Creed. But even as Adonis
enjoys both success and a blossoming relationship with his sweetheart Bianca,
played by Tessa Thompson, he faces a new challenger rising up from the
dilapidated Khruschev blocks of Kiev. Turns out Ivan Drago, the one who killed
Creed’s father in the ring 35 years before, has been raising a son Viktor
(Florian Munteanu) to succeed his disgraced legacy. Challenges are made, faces
are punched in, and Adonis has to rise up to challenges both physical and
emotional.
As with the first Creed, the performances are what helps to
sell this one. Jordan is as great as he was in that one, selling pain, anger,
cockiness, and everything else a warrior in the ring goes through. Stallone at
first lays on the rambling old man act a bit thick, but once Rocky starts going
through some truly testing moments, he conveys his emotions in ways people used
to Judge Dredd memes might not anticipate. Here it’s best to be reminded that
as meat-headed as Stallone’s projects have been in the past, he’s always been
one to put himself into it fully when he has his personal investment on it.
And…surprisingly, even Drago is sold relatively convincingly.
Living in dirt and rising back to the top himself, he and Viktor are surprisingly
sympathetic, forcing to confront the pains in their own family and the perhaps
fickle respect of their nation. Understandably they don’t really touch on the
Soviet steroid super-science glimpsed in Rocky 4, but there’s only so far they
can really repackage glorious eighties lunacy.
The rest of the cast, from Thompson to Phylicia Rashad as
Adonis’ mother, also fulfil everything the film needs from them. However, the
story itself isn’t exactly breaking new ground—and unlike the first Creed,
probably takes more familiarity with the Rocky legacy to truly appreciate.
Let’s just say a familiar pattern will reveal itself to anyone who’s seen one
of the sequels. It’s certainly forgivable if you let yourself get invested in
the characters and emotions, but again, it’s not really the fresh jumping off
point the prior one was.
Another thing missing is the really dynamic fight direction
Coogler provided in the first—lots of rotating camera shots basically right in
the midst of the fighters, really getting a thrilling look at the action that
conveyed both the strength of the fists and the teleport-like speed. That’s not
to say the fights here are bad, and director Steven Caple Jr. somewhat tries to
emulate Coogler’s choreography, but it’s definitely a step down unfortunately.
However, the performances and personal stories remain solid
and relatable, and that remains a solid plus. If you’re a fan of the series,
this one is definitely a must, and there’s some remixed music cues that’ll get
your hair standing up. If not, it’s still a decent film, if not quite on the
level of the predecessor. There’s drama, there’s fists flying, and there’s the
right level of payoff. Unlike Drago, I need not break this.
After that, where next? Stallone’s moving onto a new Rambo, supposedly
the conclusion of that series. Some might snicker, but as the previous
instalment of that one, as well as Creed, turned out decently enough, I’m
vaguely curious. I might wager that the next Creed itself might also be the
retirement of the Rocky character, but who knows. As for Jordan? As the bright
young new star here, he’s got all sorts of paths laid out for him. As Sly said
over forty years ago—it ain’t over til it’s over.
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