I was disappointed with the first Creed largely because I found the main character completely uninteresting. However, I was psyched when I heard the plot of Creed 2. The idea of having the son of Apollo Creed fight the son of Ivan Drago is freaking brilliant. It’s the kind of thing that I would come up with while drunk at 2am, but they actually made a movie out of it. I was also pumped about seeing Rocky and Drago on the screen together again, something that I’ve been waiting 30+ years to see. It’s basically Rocky IV Part 2. I mean, how do you fuck that up? Let’s find out.
Since his loss to Rocky, Drago has had a rough go of it. He was shunned by his country and his wife left him, leaving him only with his son. Fortunately, his son is also built like a fucking tank and Drago has been raising him to follow in his footsteps, hoping to won day have him win the heavyweight championship and restore honor to his name. Fortunately for him, this works out even better when Adonis Creed wins the title because now he can reclaim his honor while also fucking over Rocky. So, Drago’s son (whose name I don’t remember) challenges Adonis and then montages and fights. You know how this shit goes. In terms of basic plot structure, it’s also basically a remake of Rocky 3. He gets his ass kicked, has to regain the eye of the tiger and then wins. And, no, I don’t think it’s a spoiler that he wins.
First, the positives. The film does a great job of expanding Drago’s story arc and actually makes him a sympathetic character. This guy may still be the bastard that killed Apollo, but he went through a lot of shit after his loss and I did feel worse for him than I ever expected to. Drago is still a stoic man of few words, but the awesome Dolph Lundgren effectively portrays him as a broken-down shell of his former self that has been through a lot of shit. Stallone is also great, as usual, though I still think it would have been more fitting for him to retire this character with the sixth film, Rocky Balboa. If only more of this film was more about those two characters.
Instead, the Drago storyline is secondary to the title character and this is where the film falls apart for me. I’m sorry, but I’ve seen concrete blocks with more charisma than Michael B. Jordan. I know that I’m in the minority on this, but his performance kills this character for me because the man’s acting range begins and ends with angry pouting. His limited range is only emphasized by playing the son of Apollo Creed because I absolutely love Carl Weathers. Weathers’ performance as Apollo was somehow both over-the-top and dramatic at the same time, and I can’t help but constantly compare Jordan with him. Carl Weathers is more entertaining and charismatic while eating a sandwich than Michael B. Jordan is while playing his son. The character is just an unentertaining lump that I just can’t make myself give a shit about.
What’s really frustrating about this movie is its reluctance to capitalize on what fans of the series really want to see: the reunion of Rocky and Drago. I have waited decades to see what would happen when these characters met again and the result is one of the most anticlimactic things that I have ever seen. When Rocky first finds Drago sitting at a table at his restaurant, wishing to have a conversation with his old nemesis, I was fucking pumped. Finally, after all these years, I was going to see these two together again! And then the resulting scene is about 30 seconds long, interspliced with some other shit I don’t even remember and each character has about 3 lines. Are you fucking mocking me, movie? That’s it? The rest of the movie doesn’t even expand on it. I don’t think they ever exchanged words again. Even when they’re both in the ring together before the final fight, they only briefly exchange a nasty look. Fucking wonderful. That would be like putting Han and Vader onscreen together again, but Han just asks if he can borrow some sugar. I am often pissed off by movies, but I’m rarely this disappointed.
This may seem trivial, and I may also sound like an angry old man, but the music also irritated me. The old Rocky movies had great music; I remember having the soundtrack on tape and playing the fuck out of it. Other than briefly playing the main Rocky theme in the last round of the fight, we get none of the classic music here. Not even a single song from Rocky IV. Instead, we get nothing but shitty rap and r&b music. Going into the last fight, I was still thinking it would redeem itself. Remember how, when Apollo came out to fight Drago, he came out to Living in America and James Brown was actually there singing it? Well, I figured Adonis had to come out to “Living in America.” The entire setup for that was perfect. It had to happen. The lights go out before the fight, the buildup is there, I’m getting excited…..and then the spotlight goes on Adonis’ wife and she starts singing another shitty r&b song. Way to murder my nostalgia-fueled hard-on. Shitty music to get me pumped for a shitty character. That’s a lot of shit.
I guess I should mention that this isn’t awful. It isn’t close to my bottom 5 for the year. But it may be the most disappointed that I have been at the movies this year because I was legitimately excited for this. This movie seems to make a point of not including things that would make Rocky fans happy, or at least minimizing those things. Maybe I’m not the audience for this, maybe they just want new fans and don’t care as much for the longtime fans of the series. It’s pretty clear that this series will continue without Stallone, leaving Adonis with the entire spotlight and eliminating what few moments I’ve enjoyed in these movies. Or maybe Clubber Lang’s son will show up and beat Adonis worse than Drago beat his dad. I would be onboard for that.
Image By: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creed_II#/media/File:Creed_II_poster.png
