Creed II

I must break you again

So I’m going to share my thoughts on Creed 2. In my opinion, few movies have improved over sequels, something that I think this did. I also think that Rocky got better over time. So hopefully this is a trait that continues. Anyway, this article/random series of thoughts will be unedited, so please excuse any grammar mistakes I make.

Let’s begin:

[Warning: There will be a fair amount of spoilers, and if you haven’t seen the movie, I ask that you do so for your enjoyment and mine] 

Coming into this movie, I was expecting something bigger, better, faster. Boy did I get that back in spades. One of the reasons that I thought this movie was so great was because it had a recurring family, who are almost the opposites of the Creeds. They lost, so their entire COUNTRY shunned them! Who does that?! So Ivan Drago decides, you know what, I’m going to train a son, probably from childbirth, that pummeling your opponent in boxing is all that matters. Over time, little Viktor Drago gets really, really good at this one thing.

And I have to say that I can see shades of Rocky 4 in this movie, but honestly that’s not even the closest matchup to this movie. I’d actually say it’s more like if you took Rocky 4’s characters, and mashed them into Rocky 3. Because the course of the story in that movie is:

Rocky underestimates opponent, doesn’t have big enough abs or something. Rocky loses badly, nearly dies. Apollo Creed approaches Rocky, enticing him to train and win. Rocky accepts the offer and trains in unorthodox environment, getting buff-er. Also there’s a pool sequence, or else Rocky’s not an elite boxer. Challenger sets up a fight again, Rocky accepts. This time Rocky overcomes, and the movie comes to a satisfying close.

Now I ask, is that not basically what Creed 2 was? I’m not detracting any points from it because of these similarities. In fact, Rocky 3 was my favorite Rocky Movie. So that might be one of the reasons I loved Creed 2 so much.

The fight sequences were actually nothing like I had ever seen. They looked like they came out of a video game. And I mean that in a good way. The scenery was bright, the arenas big, and the boxers were fast and vicious. I loved the parts after you heard or saw a devastating blow, it turned slow-motion as you saw somebody face basically explode. I really do think that having a boxer who fights in real life brings something to the table that Mr. T really never could. Both Creed and Creed 2 had boxers in them, and both opponents looked ready to kill.

Speaking of which, people reference the time that Ivan Drago killed Apollo Creed multiple times. It’s sad, because I was invested and was looking forward to another movie with Carl Weathers, but when Drago killed Creed, it put me in total shock.

By the way, Phylicia Rashad was also one of the best parts of the movie. I feel like she carried the death of her husband almost thirty years. I’m kinda surprised she never tried to slap either of the Drago men. But the fact that she realized Adonis wasn’t going to stop, and nothing could turn him away from the fight was nice. Usually either Adrian or Apollo’s wife (I don’t remember if Mary Ann Creed was the same one from the movies) would try and talk their husbands out of the fight. Adonis’ mom was like: “Yeah this has happened before. I can’t stop it.” It’s frustrating to see shades of what happened in Rocky 4, happen again.

In Rocky 3, a new trainer joins Rocky’s team. Tony “Duke” Evans. In Creed 2, Tony “Little Duke” Evans, joins Adonis Creed’s team. This kind of generational stuff might be my favorite part of these movies now. Because family is very important. Both to these characters, and to me, who has consumed all six Rocky movies (Rocky Balboa (2006) counts too you guys) and Creed.

I’d also like to mention that sweet parenting job Adonis did. Whenever Bianca leaves little Amara Creed at home with him. So what does Creed do? Ask his mom for help, and then takes her to a boxing gym! That’s like the fourth thing I’d do! My number one what to do if a kid is crying and won’t stop is try and drown out the noise with something louder. Play like Commando or Rambo or something with explosions every five seconds. Second, try and bore the child to sleep. Try 12 Angry Men or A Few Good Men. If that doesn’t work, well maybe then take them to a boxing gym and beat up a bag.

For my final little part of the article, I’d just like to say that I was so happy when Ivan Drago realized that winning isn’t everything, and his son was on the verge of death. So he threw in the towel, something Rocky didn’t do. 

So the real lesson is winning isn’t everything. Having the biggest abs are.