CREED II
Director: Steven Caple Jr.
Cert: 12A, 130 mins
Creed II is a sequel to both Rocky IV and Creed, but it also works as a story on its own terms. It’s a gritty, moving, character-driven story tempered by fun, cheesy, inspiring montage sequences.
The ruthless boxer Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), the son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), issues a public challenge to Adonis Johnson / Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan). In Rocky IV (spoilers), Adonis’ father Apollo Creed died in the ring at the hands of Ivan Drago, then Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) took him on and defeated him at the height of the Cold War.
Unresolved feelings
The Dragos lost everything after that fight, and now have a single-minded quest for vindication. Adonis Creed has just won the World Heavyweight Championship, looks to start a family with the singer Bianca (Tessa Thompson), and has nothing to prove, but provoked by unresolved feelings about his late father, he takes the fight, against the advice of those around him. As a match commentator says: ‘It’s very Shakespearean. Two sons, raised worlds apart, but inexorably linked by tragedy.’
Adonis shows admirable courage against a brutal, stronger opponent, but must sort out his feelings and figure out what he’s fighting for. As the woman who raised him as a mother, Mary Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad), says: ‘He needs to heal from the inside out.’ His mentor (and his late father’s rival-turned-friend), Rocky, asks him: ‘Are you trying to prove something to them? Or to yourself?’, and reminds him of the importance of getting his mind right (cf. Romans 12.2).
Adonis Creed is ultimately encouraged and supported by the unconditional love of those around him, such as Rocky and Bianca.
As Christians, our identity is in Christ, and ‘It is finished.’ (cf. John 19.30). We ultimately have nothing to prove, to God, to others, or perhaps even to ourselves, and so we can live in freedom. From this place, we can fight the good fight of faith with perseverance, secure in the confidence that we are in Christ, and he has the victory. We are more than conquerors in his undefeatable love (cf. Romans 8).
The film contains boxing violence and injury, and one sex scene.
