With Creed II, the Rocky universe continues to be a strangely insular one, where who your daddy is determines whether or not you gain entrance to this elitist boxing ring. Picking up where Creed left off, the film sees Michael B. Jordan returning to the role of Adonis, pugilist son of Rocky’s foe-turned-friend, Apollo Creed. As any Balboa historian can tell you, the elder Creed was killed in the ring in a match against Ivan Drago, the superhuman Russian once brought to relative life by Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV. So, naturally, Creed II sees Adonis going up against (who else?) the clearly over weight-class Son of Drago.
Can this new Drago versus Creed battle match the high stakes and painfully unconvincing choreography of its predecessor? We’ll find out when Creed II hits theaters November 21.
