'Creed II' is a pale shadow of the exhilirating reboot director Ryan Coogler had offered three years ago.
Movie: Creed II
Cast: Michael B Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Dolph Lundgren, Florian Munteanu, Brigitte Nielsen
Director: Steven Caple Jr.1
Genre: Drama, Sport
Duration: 2hr 10min
Story:
On one side of the world, Adonis Creed (Michael B Jordan), World heavyweight boxing champion works up the confidence to ask his girlfriend Bianca Taylor (Tessa Thompson) to marry him. It's been three years since the first Creed movie and he has got it all. Name, fame, mother's love, and a brilliant coach in Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). On the other side of the world, living day to day, patiently working for his day under the arena spotlights is an old foe of Rocky, Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). He trains his son Viktor (Florian Munteanu) in boxing and makes him a beast who challenges Adonis' title. Adonis, against the advice of Rocky, gives into emotions and raging desire to take revenge for his father's death and accepts the challenge only to be broken as the man he once was. Broken Adonis then follows a hero's journey to get back on his feet, 'float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.' A rematch takes place. No points for guessing who wins.
Review:
Director Ryan Coogler got the Black Panther job because of his fantastic reiteration of first Rocky movie as Creed for the modern audience in 2015. Director Steven Caple Jr had the daunting task of living up to that creation when he was handed Creed II. Caple shall be given 'He tried ' badge for the effort. Creed II is everything the audience already knows having watched the Rocky movies. There is no suspense in the story. Instead, there are pages and pages of dialogues that have characters wax poetic about how Adonis needs to find purpose in his fight, how Viktor needs to reinstate the lost glory of the Dragos and bring back the love and respect of Ludmilla Drago (Brigitte Nielsen).
Creed II is an example of how beautifully buff Michael B Jordan can be wasted. Cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau's camera worships Jordan. But the uncertainty that comes with Adonis' downfall fails to come through. Jordan does all he can in the confines of a predictable story but he can't do lack of confidence. Grunts and sighs can only take you so far. Not that Jordan should not do vulnerable, the screenplay doesn't give him room and the man who brought house down playing Eric Killmonger in Black Panther earlier this year looks uncommunicative.
Everybody else does their job of fanservice and move on. Tessa Thompson's Bianca has lost her edge. Ryan Coogler's handling of the character was groundbreaking and Creed II buried her in the background. Save for the moments when in true Bollywood style she drums up the song about what a team she and Adonis are.
Blast from the past is the strong suite of this movie. Fans of the old movies will love to watch Drago vs Rocky in Russia one more time. The only difference would be standing in corners, coaching their proteges. Brigitte Neilsen's expressions steal the scenes in the frames filled with everyone else who spent more than 2 hours in the movie.
There is no fresh thought in Creed II. But it is a movie in the Rocky Universe that will fetch it box office numbers. Nostalgia wins and you get to hear claps and whistles in the theatre during the final bout in Russia between Adonis and Viktor. It's all about entertainment in the end.
Verdict:
It's not 'Creed.'
Critic's ratings: 2.5/5
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