If you love the Rocky franchise, you’ll love this movie. As a fan of the Rocky franchise and the first Creed movie myself, I was extremely excited to see Creed 2 and I was not disappointed. Creed 2 is a fantastic film and is a successful sequel to the original. The director Steven Caple Jr. who replaced the original Creed director, Ryan Coogler, has crafted a sequel that raises the stakes and the action. In addition, Creed 2 further develops the characters of Adonis Creed, (Michael B Jordan) his wife Bianca, (Tessa Thompson) and his trainer Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone).

In this instalment, Adonis struggles with challenges of becoming the boxing world heavyweight champion and also the challenges of becoming a husband and a father. However his biggest challenge in the film, is facing the son of the man that killed his father, Victor Drago. The Drago’s return from the 1985 Rocky 4 film in which Adonis’s father, Apollo Creed, was killed by Ivan Drago . In this film Rocky fights and defeats Ivan Drago, in turn ruining his reputation in Russia. So in Creed 2, Ivan has trained his son Victor so that he can defeat Adonis, take revenge on Rocky, and restore his reputation.

In the original Creed, Adonis struggles with creating a name for himself in boxing because he lives in the shadow of his deceased father Apollo Creed. The  first film focuses on Adonis growing from a ameatur boxer into an underdog similar to the first Rocky movie. Throughout the movie we see Adonis, under the  guidance of Rocky, become a very talented fighter. Adonis also finds love with a singer named Bianca and she serves as another motivation for him to succeed. Eventually, Adonis is challenged by the world heavyweight champion Ricky Conlan and in the end, even though he loses, he still proves that he is not just a shadow of his father knocking Conlan down and fighting all twelve rounds.

Creed 2 further emphasizes the value of family. Adonis (Michael B Jordan) and Rocky’s (Sylvester Stallone) trainer and boxer relationship is strained because of Rocky not wanting Adonis to fight Drago. Both Jordan and Stallone give fantastic performances that make you feel invested in the characters and make you feel great emotion throughout. The on screen chemistry between Bianca and Adonis is also very evident and realistic. Furthermore, the antagonists are more than just your classic “bad guys.” You understand their motivations and at times, feel their pain.

Another highlight of movie was the actual boxing scenes. The characters entrances into the area were very interesting and really hyped you up for the fight. Thanks to the phenomenal camera work and the editing, the fighting looks and sounds the realest I have ever seen. Whenever you see Adonis get hit hard, you feel like you yourself get hit and you feel the pain. However, my absolute favorite scene of this film was the training montage (Of course there is a montage, it’s a Rocky(Creed) movie.) Before the final fight, Rocky takes Adonis into the desert to train. The best part of this scene is when Rocky has Adonis run on the road in the sweltering heat. At first we see Adonis fall and lay on the ground exhausted, but then as he gets up, the music begins to swell and he sprints leaving Rocky in the dust.

Overall, Creed 2 really impressed me. Although the story is a bit repetitive and similar to the other Rocky films, you are still invested in the characters. Creed has become a new franchise that appeals to the new age of younger Rocky fans and I believe that in the future (if there are more sequels) that these movies will continue to do well and will continue the legacy of the Rocky story.