Cue the trumpets for the return of Philadelphia's finest, Rocky Balboa, the greatest meat-tenderiser who ever pulled on the gloves ... except that it's not his movie. When African-American director Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) and actor Michael B Jordan decided some years ago to revive the series by dramatising the story of Apollo Creed's illegitimate son Adonis, it was a symbolic act.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Apollo Creed was an essential part of the success of the first four movies (1976-1985) until he became the victim of Cold War geopolitics when Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) killed him in the ring in Rocky IV.
In Creed (2015) Michael B Jordan was both beautiful and brutal. The movie they built around his rise from juvenile delinquent to contender, with Rocky as his mentor, had grandeur and breadth.
Creed II sees Adonis as world champion, six fights undefeated, when out of the past comes Viktor Drago, son of Ivan. Rocky tells Adonis not to take the fight; you can't avenge your father, you're doing it for the wrong reasons, Viktor is out to kill you etcetera.
When the two fighters finally meet in America, nothing that happens from then on is a surprise. Indeed, you could take most of the cliches of the boxing movie from the last 60 years, roll them into a script mincer, and out would come Creed II.
