The 2022-2023 Film Journal Entry #13: "Creed II"

2022-2023 Film Journal Entry #13

by Xavier E. Palacios

"Creed II"

4.5 out of 5

Directed by Steven Caple Jr.

Rated "PG-13"

Continuing the Rocky saga with the story of Adonis "Donnie" Creed-Johnson (Michael B. Jordan), life finally seems to be taking turns for the better. Donnie has become the world heavyweight champion, earning the title's personal and public glory. His girlfriend, musician Bianca Taylor (Tessa Thompson), has become his fiancé; soon after, they are expecting their first child. His mentor and uncle in all-but-name, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), is cancer-free. Yet the self-debilitating, angry darkness from Donnie's origins and childhood as the forgotten, bastard-orphan of Apollo Creed, a long time before his father's wife, Mary Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad), took him in, returns when his title is challenged by the mighty Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu). He is the son of the vengeful Ivan (Dolph Lundgren), Rocky's life-changing opponent from Rocky IV and Apollo's killer. As self-destructive history threatens to repeat itself, Donnie, Rocky, and Bianca must learn to properly face the past's lingering woes and move toward the future before heartbreak and regret consume them.

Bro, for real, how do these films keep being so frigging good?! So consistently good?! I am totally serious: the Rocky saga might be the best film series. I cannot think of any other that has had eight films (nine as of this writing with the just-released Creed III), from 1976 to 2018, that have been so artistically brilliant, hard-hitting, entertaining, valuable, and heartfelt. Even the film I consider the worst in the series, Rocky IV, clearly has significance. If that film did not set the stage for the four films that have followed, that story alone, while poorly executed and off-model for the saga, has positively affected me like the others. I cannot process this fact. I am in awe of what these films and their makers have achieved for pushing fifty-years. Bro: how do they keep doing it?

Likewise, considering, so far as I have heard, the ninth film's current reception, the Rocky saga, masterfully carried on by this Creed era, should be the go-to example for great blockbuster filmmaking. Not any overrated, overblown, or undeserving Disney project. Not the hordes of animation drivel. Not the bleak choices Warner Bros. continues to make. Not the formerly glorious Marvel Saga (sans Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther as those series were always their own things) that should have stopped four years ago when the epic, ya know, ended. Not the borderline depressing works Universal keeps putting out (the Rocky sequels are the antithesis to the Jurassic Park sequels). These films. They make good profit and are relatively cheap to make. They are American Folklore in the best of ways; personally crafted and inspiring. Crowd-pleasing and respectfully regarded. Dependably excellent with positive reviews. The new film was trending on social media! All the necessities to be a king of the film industry are checked off!

If these pictures were given their just considerations by those with power in cinema production, the mainstream side of the medium could achieve wonders.

Now, where to begin with Creed II? Well, for starters, I heard this film was good but not as much as Creed. I say different. Creed II is as good if not better than Creed. Like Rocky II did for Rocky, this flick is the perfect extension of the last installment. While director Ryan Coogler and his crew's fiery filmmaking in the prior picture has been tempered to a comfortable flame in this one, director Steven Caple Jr. and his crew still bring their A-games to the piece. I mean, come on. Those training montages under water and across the desert? Getting me to uncontrollably hum along with the signature series theme in the finale like a giddy fan? Having me be completely in tune with the film from start to finish? The filmmaking here is worthy.