Creed II review – Knockout punch for fans

They have certainly gone all out to hype Creed II. It’s not often that big stars of an American movie decide to visit SA to promote their product, but this week they came out in full force on the red carpet – and everybody loved it.

Searching for new ideas to extend the Rocky universe, Creed II coughs up all the expected boxing cliches.

Long, drawn out and lacking the narrative texture and excitement of the 2015 Ryan Coogler original, this sequel nevertheless manages to deliver a knock out punch for fans.

Steven Caple Jnr’s production boasts some striking acting and a clutch of well choreographed boxing sequences to hold it all together.

The twin appearances of an ageing, sad-eyed Sylvester Stallone and an equally ageing Dolph Lundgren help add some degree of gravitas to the movie’s emotional core.

The story revisits world heavyweight champion Adonis Creed (Michael B Jordan), son of the late boxing legend Apollo Creed, who proposes to girlfriend Bianca (Tessa Thompson), the neo-soul singer with whom he lives in Philadelphia.

Adonis is still haunted by the death of his beloved father who was mercilessly battered to death in a fight with Russia’s Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), so graphically depicted in Rocky IV.

After defending his title, Adonis is then challenged, believe it or not, by Ivan’s scowling son, Viktor (Florian Munteanu, a boxer in real life).

The narrative at times dips into the melodramatic, but as fight movies go, it’s enjoyable nevertheless.

Info

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Cast: Michael B Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Florian Munteanu, Dolph Lundgren.
Director: Steven Caple Jnr.
Classification: 13 DSLV.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.