Nine years after the last Rocky movie in 2006, Rocky Balboa, the Creed franchise was born. With the son of Apollo Creed, Adonis as the protagonist, the movie was a blockbuster. On November 21, 2018, the second installment of the series, Creed II, got released.

The film is directed by Steven Caple, Jr., and this time Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) struggles to escape the haunting past of his father’s death at the hands of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) when Drago’s son, Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), challenges Adonis to a boxing match. All of this happens right after he wins the title championship and Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) refuses to train Adonis, fearing that he might get permanently injured or even die. While he and his longtime singer girlfriend, Bianca Porter (Tessa Thompson), take the next steps in their relationship, the dilemma Adonis faces is whether he should accept the challenge or not, and if yes, what is he fighting for?

Creed II recycles many plot points from the Rocky movies and follows the classic monomyth or “hero’s journey” storyline, which is what makes it so enjoyable. Seeing Adonis experience injury and defeat, deal with his personal crisis, undergo extreme training in a California desert, and fight Viktor at the end will enable fans of the franchise to appreciate the film for the characters they have previously seen and connected with, rather than the storyline. For example in the first movie, we witness Adonis finding out about his connection to the great Apollo Creed, and his career with former heavyweight champion Rocky Balboa. Creed II, on the other hand, is all about his own identity as a man, rather than “the son of Apollo Creed”. Despite the straightforward storyline and the few comical bits that lightened up the mood of the movie, Creed II ended up being less enjoyable for casual moviegoers and people who hadn’t seen Creed or any of the Rocky movies because of the lack of context on the characters and their relationships. Overall the movie does a good job of revitalizing the decades-old rivalry between Creed and Drago, only this time their sons carry the duty of honoring them.

Score: 8/10