In 1985, Russian boxer Ivan Drago killed former U.S. champion Apollo Creed in a tragic match that stunned the world. Against the wishes of trainer Rocky Balboa, Apollo's son Adonis Johnson accepts a challenge from Drago's son -- another dangerous fighter. Under guidance from Rocky, Adonis trains for the showdown of his life -- a date with destiny that soon becomes his obsession. Now, Johnson and Balboa must confront their shared legacy as the past comes back to haunt each man.
Creed 2 is a really powerful film that not only tells us the story of boxer Adonis and his battle of revenge but also his vengeance and family in order to succeed. Creed 2 has only been out a day or so but the theatre seemed pretty empty which was surprising because this film has been a really highly anticipated one this year. The story in which Adonis is in is really unique and some would even say that it could be one of the best films this year, however everyone has their own views on films of course. Was this film a 10 round fight or did it get knocked out in the first round? Here are my thoughts.
One of the best parts of this film was the amount of dedication that went in to creating a really strong theme of boxing, I really liked how the boxing culture of the film introduced us to two boxers who lived very diferent lives, in an exciting way! From seeing Adonis living his best life in the USA to Drago living in a run down city in the Ukraine, begging for food. The comparison between these two characters forebode the film really well and definitely created a mysterious theme around the Ukrainian boxer. Seeing how differently they lived also gave us a great insight into their characters and helped to introduce them to us on a much more personal level which I really liked. The theme of boxing was really strong throughout the film too, we were constantly reminded of the different lives that Adonis lived, from being in the ring to eventually being married and having children, we had a great insight into how they lived which made them feel much more personal and real to us. The characters also really helped out with this, there weren't many characters in this film which was actually beneficial because it made us focus on the amount that were there, they were interesting, exciting and all had their part to play in the story which I liked. The acting was the same too, I felt that Michael B Jordan stood out but all of the acting was really good and made for an enjoyable watch.
But this is a boxing film and thankfully the fights were exhilarating, not only did they get the audience involved really nicely and effectively but they were also exciting and fun to watch. Seeing slow motion punches, a loud atmosphere and the roars after punches really made these types of scenes immersive and exciting or the audience to watch. The film managed to connect with us on a really personal note too, as I mentioned, seeing different sides to boxers was immersive but not just visually, the emotions that they shared were really powerful too and showed them as real human beings instead of just warriors beating other people up. Seeing the 'bottom' vs 'top' fight was a great way of showing this. The great variety of tension introduced by the dialogue was also really positive and great because it helped us to engage with the characters and the plot and it also helped to personify the emotions of the characters. Seeing how hurt Drago was when his Mother left the boxing match really was really effectively done, but this wasn't all. Seeing Adonis's child being born deaf, seeing him speaking to his Father's grave at the end of the film, it was definitely an action packed film but it was more than that, it was a real story of the emotions leading up to a fight. The film got us involved emotionally with the film amazingly though, during fight scenes I heard people yelp from painful hits that Adonis took, and they were certainly not nice to see, I even winced seeing the side rib shots but it got us behind Adonis and immersed us in the fight really nicely. This is exactly what makes the film engaging and exciting. Speaking of the story, it was really well laid out. The plot of the film was relatively simple too which I feel really helped it because it didn't give the audience much to actually be confused about, but it was clearly really well made and definitely gave the audience what we went to watch the film for - thrills and excitement. There was so much more than the boxing story within Creed 2 though, it was a story of friendship, loss and love and the combination of these 3 emotions were all matched together perfectly in one mixture which was awesome to see. Seeing Adonis and Rocky's friendship change and evolve throughout the film was awesome to see and helped to solidify the characters relationships with each other because they felt genuine and real, relating back to how good the dialogue and audience engagement was in this film. The film definitely tells an inspiring story of perseverance which I liked too and felt gave the film some soul and purpose and in the end, it was satisfying to see Adonis avenge his father and beat the hell out of Drago!!!
However this film definitely took a beating, there were plenty of parts to this film that didn't feel so good. It felt as if many decisions made for this film weren't consulted with everyone before being filmed, some characters changed sides throughout the film, names were incorrectly called out and for an emotional film there wasn't much realistic emotions at all. For example, when Adonis introduced his dad's death, he wasn't upset or sad or even angry at all, he was a little heated but there real emotions from victory and loss just weren't present at all during this film which took a little bit of the spotlight away from some great scenes. I also mentioned the culture of boxing in this film, it was immersive and greatly introduced but was it realistic? Hell no! The film doesn't say anything honest about the boxing business, we see here a successful US boxer living like a recluse, in a mediocre apartment, surrounded only by his one loyal aide and his wife, what about the usual entourage and swarm of people like masseurs, coaches, media assistants and publicists, financial advisers and groupies? What about the money and the financial motivations? Every top boxing fight is basically about earning millions of USD, in the real world. It is a simple film for the naive audience which is a huge letdown for this film.
Overall though, this is definitely a solid film and I would give it an 8/10. It was enjoyable, immersive, emotionally impacting and exciting but it just feels like a lack of creativity was present in this film. The boxing fight scenes were really exciting and enjoyable too and they really helped to get us actively engaged and involved within the plot of the film which was awesome but once again, this film had a few too many problems to get to the end of the 12th round unfortunately. Would I recommend watching this film? Definitely, it was a really enjoyable film with some great scenes in it, but it is definitely for a specific taste of film lovers!
Thank you for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film. Have a good day.
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