Creed II continues the saga of the Rocky films, which have now expanded sideways to encompass the life and times of Adonis Creed, son of Rocky staple and boxing champ Apollo Creed. The Creed franchise launched to considerable critical acclaim and box office success in 2015 with Creed (dir. Ryan Coogler). The sequel, predictably enough, is titled Creed II, and is directed by Steven Caple Jnr. The rejuvenated Rocky brand has found new life in this 21st century makeover, and Michael B Jordan is a winning lead as the young Creed. Although I may have really enjoyed the 2006 re-start Rocky Balboa (dir. Stallone), it wasn’t the break with the old that Creed represents for the franchise.

While Creed mirrored Rocky’s original bout with Apollo (Rocky, 1976, dir. John G. Avildsen), in which our hero achieves a moral victory in a make-or-break fight, Creed II takes up the themes from 1985’s Rocky IV (dir. Stallone… AGAIN) through the re-entry, stage east, of the Drago family. In Rocky IV, the antagonist was Russian boxer Ivan Drago, played with gusto by Dolph Lundgren. In a tragic turn of events, Drago delivered a fatal blow to Carl Weathers’ Apollo, a death that went on to be avenged by Rocky himself, in a climactic fight that took place in Russia.

The reintroduction of this plot point therefore makes intuitive sense for a Creed sequel. Adonis is challenged to a dynastic battle, as a scheming boxing promoter engineers a grudge match between Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), son of Ivan, and Adonis Creed, son of Apollo.

While the training montages and fight scenes are what the people come to a Rocky/Creed film wanting to see, for the most part these films deal in downtime between bursts of action. The success or otherwise of these long moments of characterisation are what make or break the pay-off. The downbeats in Creed II focus on a depressed Adonis, physically and mentally bereft after his initial fight with Viktor Drago. This is not new territory for these films, Rocky II (1979, directed by… yep, you’ve guessed it) takes familiar steps in particular, as Rocky questions his ability to ‘be a man’ if he does not or cannot fight. Throughout these films, over four decades of world-building, one of the bright threads has been the exploration of working-class masculinity. Creed II delivers on this theme through convulsive crises of masculinity, experienced by Adonis, Viktor, and even Ivan. Ironically at this stage, Rocky himself has moved beyond being challenged by threats to his manhood, having accepted the role of sagacious father-figure. Rocky aside, the action in Creed II is fuelled by hegemonic masculinity.

It’s both a tale of fathers and sons, and an examination of wider family. The motivating linkages between Viktor and Adonis are solely wedded to the father-son bonds, but glimpses at wider family dynamics demonstrate the real differences between these two fighters. Creed fights from a place of love and security, Viktor from a place of loss and instability. The Drago Family, Mr and Mrs ‘Monstrous Other’ have visited the fallout from the 1985 fight on their unhappy and monosyllabic son. They are given so little to do throughout, and yet their messed up family and the isolation of Ivan and his son Viktor somehow manages to be affecting. Viktor Drago barely speaks and yet by the end I was in tears for him! I was happy for Creed to win, but he’d already won anyway. In the end, Creed had nothing to lose because he would not have lost his family. Viktor, meanwhile, was fighting to keep his.

What does it say about 2018 that we’re back to Russian baddies? However, in Creed II the Russian baddie gets his own character arc, and for me this film is about the redemption of Ivan Drago. It’s Saving Mr Banks Rocky-style. Ivan’s Road to Damascus moment, and the repair of his relationship with his son is a non-cynical emotional beat to this film that makes it interesting.

In contrast, the absolute and cartoonish vilification of Brigitte Nielsen relies on all the worst tropes of evil womanhood. How can the worst character in this film be Brigitte Nielsen!? And women do get a bum rap in Creed II. This is perhaps par for the course, as the women (well, Talia Shire’s Adrian) in Rocky’s life have tended to sacrifice their all for him. The Creed films remedy this to an extent, but as an example, Bianca’s labour was entirely framed from Rocky’s perspective.

The training and fight scenes are wonderful. Clearly, a re-location to a ‘gym for outcasts’ in the desert is ridiculous, but the visual and thematic pay-offs are worth it. The juxtaposition of Adonis and Viktor’s training for the final fight suggest that they have traded places. From Viktor’s hard-scrabbling training in Kiev, once he has achieved worth again, his equipment and his surroundings become plush. Adonis, to re-build his shattered psyche, must do so within a place devoid of frills or luxury. The film tells us that Viktor Drago has unwittingly embraced style over substance while Creed has gone back to basics, and will achieve authenticity in the battle to come.

And, gratifyingly, the final fight is fantastic. The first beating was truly difficult to watch. A lot of why it works so effectively is because Jordan is good at emoting in a way that Stallone just wasn’t. Stallone’s Rocky was more about a deep well of feeling that Rocky himself only partially understood. Stallone played Rocky as honest and searching, but often unable to connect. This is in no way a criticism, it’s an acknowledgement that Rocky Balboa is a different character, with his own emotional complexity and traits. Michael B Jordan in contrast is just a big ball of heart – he conveys the physical and emotional hurt, transmitting on full frequency to his audience and bringing them right into the ring with Creed.

A family film of Cold War proportions, Creed II continues the investigation of masculinity and taking a beating that we’ve come to know and love. Michael B Jordan again offers an engaging performance, and of course the fight scenes are masterful.

3/5