TAS Reviews: Creed II (SPOILERS)
The first Creed movie is one of my favourite movies in recent memory. It's because of this very reason that I was cautious going into Creed II. Ryan Coogler, director of the first Creed (who also directed Fruitvale Station and Black Panther), is a fantastic director, and he was a big part of the success of the first film. The movie was his idea, and his fingerprints were all over the project. When I heard he wouldn't be directing the second instalment of the Creed franchise, I instantly became cynical. Despite this, I was excited for Creed II, and I avoided all marketing.
I never expected Creed II to be as good as the first, but I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed this movie. Despite Steven Caple Jr. being nowhere near as inventive and as talented of a director as Ryan Coogler, I thought he did a great job expanding on and honouring the familial and generational themes of the first movie. I'll explain why I think this movie works, and why it falls short of being as good as the first movie.
Michael B. Jordan once again does a fantastic job as Adonis. In fact, I'd argue he's better here than in the first movie. He does an excellent job fitting the bill of a likeable lead and knocks the physicality out of the park, but his finest instances of acting are when he captures the more frustrated, angry, juvenile aspects of the character. Adonis is a flawed individual who grew up in a violent environment in group homes, and without a father figure in his life, and the script never forgets this. This is a significant part of Adonis's character, and in the hands of a less talented actor, these traits could cause audiences to become resentful of the character. But MBJ does a great job in balancing the more flawed aspects of the character with the likeable facets of the character.
One thing this movie does better than the first is presenting an antagonist who is fleshed out, with their own distinct motivations, shortcomings and development. This is done in service of the familial, generational themes of the franchise, as the juxtaposition between Adonis and his rival Viktor Drago serves as the narrative depth of the film. Viktor, and his father Ivan, live and die by boxing. They are defined entirely by their sport, and as Rocky himself says in the movie, they have nothing to lose. Whereas Adonis, on the other hand, has a fiancee he cares for, a firstborn, a mother and a father figure in Rocky Balboa.
What I appreciated was how the film respects it's audiences intelligence by developing these differences through actions instead of dialogue. From the moment Viktor is introduced, he is shown crudely awoken by a smack from his father. It's a subtle action that speaks volumes about the nature of the relationship between Ivan and his son, and the intense, even angry nature of the character. Whereas Adonis is defined by his intimate, interpersonal relationships with others, Viktor has none. Ivan lost everything from his reputation as a fighter, his nation, his wife and his career, and raised his son to win these things back. He is raised on the basis of this singular purpose.
The film also explores these differences through the demeanours of the characters. Adonis's intensity manifests itself viscerally, whereas Viktor, outside of the field, is a stoic, impassive, focused individual. When Adonis neglects his relationships with those around him, namely Rocky, he loses the first fight, but when he leans into these strengths, he is able to overcome his adversary. Once again, the movie accomplishes this through subtle, creative decisions that explore these themes through actions as opposed to dialogue. Adonis goes into the first fight to the beat of a rap song about being an ICON, whereas he goes into the second-fight to a song sung by his fiancee.
It's a nice sentiment about the importance of family, and how familial relationships make us stronger as individuals. The inclusion of Adonis's child, and an exploration of Rocky's relationship with his son, also do a great job of expanding on this theme. This gives Creed II a satisfying amount of depth, and elevates it above being an average, shallow boxing movie.
This is where Creed II falls short of the original. Whereas the sentiment is nice, the strength of family isn't a plausible enough reason to go from being beaten up in a first fight, to a clear win in the second fight. A big part of this might have to do with the pacing of the film, which rushes over points which would've been better used in service of fleshing out the characters and their stories.
In addition, I feel Adonis's arc here is nowhere near as impactful as it could've been, and feels a bit unfulfilling. Adonis's reason for fighting Ivan in itself is set-up by the film as a character flaw. He is letting himself be motivated by anger and vengeance. Does he learn from this? Not really. I mean, the movie wants us to believe he's developed, but it isn't really well done.
The movie tells us Adonis is no longer consumed by vengeance, and that he did this for himself, but there's no consequence for his actions and flaws. Sure, he lost the first fight, but there's no long-term effects of this, and there's no change caused in Adonis's actions. What did he lose? What did his actions cost him? In the first Creed, Adonis lost the fight, but earned and learned the important things: his own self-respect, and learning to embrace his heritage and family bloodline. There's none of that here. None of that sense of loss. Just lip-service.
There is also a subplot in regards to Adonis's daughter potentially being deaf, with Rocky telling Adonis to mentally prepare himself if she does end up being deaf, but this ends up going nowhere.
To end this review on a positive note, Steven Caple Jr. had large shoes to fill in terms of the action, and does a great job. There are so many spine-chilling moments throughout the boxing sequences, all of which do a great job building and sustaining momentum and tension. The sound-design is also fantastic, and when the movie goes silent during moments in the action sequences, it is used perfectly, and you can hear a pin drop in the theatre.
Creed II is not as good as the original, but it didn't need to be. What it needed to do was honour and expand on the themes of the first Creed, all the while telling a self-contained, satisfying story on it's own.
Creed II succeeds on the merits of solid acting, strong action sequences, and a string of strong creative decisions that do an admiral job telling a story with universally relatable themes of family and interpersonal relationships.
I only wish they would've gone further with it, but what we've got is still a really good, almost exceptional movie.
Log in to comment