Yesterday, in anticipation of finally watching Creed III, I decided that I should first rewatch 2018’s Creed II.  I actually did see Creed II when it was originally released in theaters and I seem to remember that I enjoyed it but, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I couldn’t remember much more about it.

In Creed II, Adonis “Donnie” Creed (Michael B. Jordan) finally becomes heavyweight champion of the world and immediately finds himself being taunted by Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), the son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren).  To be honest, Donnie really does have more to think about then some other boxer demanding that Donnie give him a fight.  Donnie has finally married his girlfriend, Bianca Taylor (Tessa Thompson), and she’s pregnant.  However, Donnie cannot get Viktor out of his mind because Viktor is the son of the man who killed Donnie’s father in the ring.  Ivan Drago has not only raised his son to be a fearsome fighter but he’s also Viktor’s trainer.

Have you ever wondered if Ivan Drago ever felt guilty about causing the death of Apollo Creed?  This film suggests that he does not and that he instead blames Apollo’s friend, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), for not stopping the fight.  In Creed II, Ivan and Viktor fly to Philadelphia to try to get their fight with Donnie.  Ivan goes to Rocky’s restaurant by himself and he explains that, after losing to Rocky in Russia, he lost everything.  Rocky went home a hero while Ivan went home with nothing.  By turning his son into a fearsome boxer, Ivan is vicariously getting the career that he feels he deserved.  Ivan wants Donnie to fight Viktor and Donnie wants to fight Viktor.  However, Rocky wants nothing to do with it and, when you consider how big Viktor is compared to Donnie, it’s easy to understand why.

Donnie recruits Little Duke (Wood Harris, who co-starred with Jordan on The Wire) to serve as his new manager and trainer.  The fight between Donnie and Viktor is a disaster, with Donnie letting his emotions get the better of him.  Donnie is nearly killed in the ring but Viktor proves to be such an aggressive fighter that he loses by disqualification.  Will Donnie survive the inevitable rematch with Viktor and will that rematch be fought in Moscow?  Will Rocky finally agree to train Donnie and also find the courage to travel up to Canada to see his son and meet his grandson?  Will Ivan realize that he’s pushing his son too hard?  Even if you haven’t seen the film, you can probably guess the answers to all of those questions.

As opposed to the first film, there aren’t many surprises to be found in Creed II.  It’s a well-made but thoroughly conventional boxing movie and it lacks both the grit and the attention to detail that Ryan Coogler brought to the first Creed.  Running over two hours, Creed II has a few too many slow spots and even the big training montage drags a bit.  That said, Creed II works wonderfully well as an epilogue to Rocky IV.  The most ridiculed of the Rocky sequels actually provides a poignant backdrop to this film as both Donnie and Viktor struggle to both live up to and make peace with the complicated legacies of their fathers.  Donnie finally feels worthy of his family name while Viktor shows the same type of raw courage that Rocky Balboa showed in his earlier films.  Perhaps most surprisingly, Ivan Drago finally reveals his humanity.  The scene where Ivan finally realizes that he’s turning his son into a machine who will not stop fighting until he is thoroughly broken is surprisingly powerful and Dolph Lundgren truly seems to be happy to have the chance to finally show that Ivan Drago is a human being after all.

Interestingly enough, Rocky Balboa spends much of the film sidelined and, even more so than in the first film, the emphasis is on Donnie’s emotional growth.  It’s always good to see Stallone and he’s as likable as always as Rocky but, re-watching this film, it was easy to understand how a sequel could be made without the character’s presence.  In the end, the best thing about the Creed films is that Donnie himself is a strong enough character that he can be compelling both with or without Rocky Balboa’s help.