CREED II – A Review by Hollywood Hernandez
In Creed II Sylvester Stallone hands the Creed franchise over to Michael B. Jordan, with "Rocky" stepping out of the spotlight and young "Adonis Creed" taking over the reins. Creed, Michael B. Jordan, is now the champ, with a full-fledged family (a new fiancé, his mother, and a newborn baby); and his "Unc" (Stallone) in a supporting role as his mentor and trainer.
Phylicia Rashad is Creed's mom and she brings back her Clair Huxtable portrayal as the mom. Her character is a very opinionated and sassy woman, but she is also very loving too. Tessa Thompson plays Bianca, Adonis' soul singer fiancé. And a newborn baby adds to Creed's reasons to fight. Along with the pressure of being the son of the former heavyweight champ, Apollo Creed, he has a lot of weight on his shoulders.
His rival in Creed II is the son of the fighter who killed his father in the ring, Vikter Drago. Young Drago is played by Florian Munteanu, a fitness model who is known for his huge size and towering physique. Ivan Drago (Dolph Lungren) is also back and thirty years later he's still living with the disgrace in Russia of losing to Rocky.
Stallone has his hands all in this pie. He's the producer of Creed II and he also gets a writing credit for the film, along with Ryan Coogler (who gets credit for writing for the characters in the movie). Coogler was the successful director of Black Panther.
Creed II is rated PG-13 and lasts 2 hours and 10 minutes. It's a great story that has a little bit of everything. Action, romance, and the boxing scenes will have you cheering and up on your feet. Creed II is a hit and I give it my highest rating on my "Hollywood Popcorn Scale." I give it a JUMBO (with extra butter)!
