A free-spoiler review of "Creed 2"

You can watch it here: https://www.amazon.com/Creed-II-Michael-B-Jordan/dp/B07KPZNVTQ

Some time ago I refreshed 5 parts of "Rocky". I skipped the first "Creed" because I roughly remember this movie and although I have nothing to complain about, I didn't like it enough to want to watch it for the 2nd time. So how does the sequel look like? Sensational! It is not perfect and has some minor imperfections, but overall it came out better than I expected. Technically, this is definitely the best-filmed part of "Rocky-Cinematic-Universe", without losing the familiar atmosphere that Sylvester Stallone got used to. Adonis's life problems and dilemmas can be successfully referred to examples from our lives or our colleagues. Steven Caple has just as well translated the atmosphere and motto of previous episodes of this series into modern times, referring to younger viewers.

"Creed II" can be treated as a direct continuation of the 4th part of "Rocky". If you've been waiting for a reunion with Ivan for years, you'll be satisfied. Viktor and his father do not appear too often, but many scenes with their participation are emotionally well played. They got along like a real father and son. Drago from "Rocky IV" was an extremely exaggerated character. His image at the time stood on the border of auto-parody and excessive seriousness. The current Drago is still the same stereotypical Ruski, and its redrawing has been replaced by more natural features (both positive and negative). You can see here the extensive experience of the actor who uses his whole head to play - from the right tone of voice to the face on which the destruction is written - both inflicted and accepted. Dolph Lundgren works great as such proud, cold-blooded (but honorable!) Motherfuckers.

Viktor is probably an even larger tank than his old in the prime of life. Not only is he enormous, but he is so inflated that he could break people like matches (#mikrospoiler - Adonis kept a firm guard, and Russian squeaked him sickle and Master from the middle of the ring was on the ropes). Feel his beastly and destructive strength every time he bumps his opponents. His relationship with his father is great, from the same gestures and glances you can read various feelings - his son's anger, strengthening his feelings of anger and hatred, his father's dryness in accordance with the principle of "whip you can't whip" and authentic (though cool) love of his son to my father and vice versa. The guys survived a lot, living in a fucking pigsty, so they had to manage somehow. Generally, I have nothing to fault, I have not seen such naturally played roles in the cinema for a long time. From what I've learned, this film was the acting debut of Florian Munteanu - I hope to see him in subsequent productions. The guy can really play, despite being a giant.

Before I start writing about fights, I will discuss how it looks from Creed's side. As I wrote, I didn't like the creation of Adonis from the first part. Despite Stallone, I felt like it was "like the same, but still a different universe" (like Netflix-MCU and normal MCU - in the sense that Netflix TV series seem to be happening in the cinema world of Marvel). In this film, the son of Apollo became a full-fledged hero for me and I began to perceive him as the legitimate continuator of the cycle. I perceive his family in a similarly positive way - his mother is an experienced, clever and wise woman who is not impressed by testosterone-laden men. About the wife of Adonis I can say more or less the same - he maintains his husband's spirits, as well as demonstrates life wisdom and understanding. The film shows us (from the first scene to the very end) how important family relationships are. Relationships of both families, although radically different, show the essence of family ties and sincere emotions.

In no part of the boxers, saga were so beautifully shot combat scenes. Many shots are long and show blows or evasions in full sequence without cuts or other "tricks" of the editors. These do happen, but there are definitely fewer of them than in any other part of "Rocky". The fights were shot even more professionally and more realism was taken care of - e.g. the characters do not take many blows, or damage is well shown. We also have a few new shots (e.g. we see the action from the perspective of a boxer who gets java from Viktor), in which the dynamics and strength of the blows brought by boxers were well shown. In one sentence - it wasn't so good in any part!

Similarly, in the case of the final duel arena. I don't know what the name of this arena is, but it impressed me. There was a kind of majesty from her, worthy of the duel of this duel. Pyrotechnic, light, and sound effects and music surprised me. As for the soundtrack, however, the sentiment wins, although "Creed 2" can boast of good songs (songs of wife Adonis sweep! <3). You can hear several remixes of the iconic songs, there is also a classic for the training music video series, which came out almost as good as in the good old years.

To sum up - "Creed 2" is a very good film for both old viewers who have known Rocky Balbo for years and fresh ones. The creators did (in my opinion) an incomparably better fanservice than the team standing behind "The Force Awakens". The comparison may seem a bit like a hat, but in both productions there are a lot of "easter eggs" or clear references to classic parts. The difference is that the ones from "Creed 2" are less intrusive (and often more subtle and more naturally introduced) and there are not so many of them. The director prepared a beautiful laurel for fans, which he created from the best ideas that appeared in the Sylvester series. A good farewell to one of my favorite boxers I met in my life. I don't have much to fault - every actor played at least correctly. At most, I could fault the few fragments were slightly boring, but that's all. I rate this movie at 8/10 with a big plus.