In spite of the fact that she enjoyed, and cheered through, every other Rocky film, my daughter's anti-boxing stance grew stronger and stronger over time. She says watching any form of boxing, real, video game or cinematic, makes her very uncomfortable.
She's a big fan of both Kevin Hart and Alan Arkin, and it took forever to get her to watch Grudge Match, which she rated as , "Funny, but it had too much boxing."
After nearly two full years of reminding her she liked the other Rocky movies, her entire "Kid's Eyes" view of Creed II can be summed up as:
"No thank you."
I know, right?
She certainly doesn't get that from my side of the family!
Therefore I gave up and watched the film by myself.
It was fantastic and deserves to be counted as a Rocky Film. Now I have to watch them all again...alone, apparently.
Similar to how the original Creed went back to the early roots of the franchise, this film pulls in elements from Rocky 2, 3 and 4.
The growing relationship between Donny and Bianca mirrors 2.
The need to alter perspective and focus for a tough opponent mirrors 3.
The cultural clash with the Drago family mirrors 4.
There are some modern tweaks to the old formulas, though.
The women are more actively involved and Tessa Thompson's Bianca is more of a participating partner with her own career, that is independent, yet a compliment to Adonis's.
Her musical career helps tie the soundtrack in with the plot, and she's got a hell of a voice for an Asgardian warrior. The music fits the setting and characters, but there's just enough of a hint of "Gonna Fly Now" at the right moment to keep us old folks happy.
Phylicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed exudes power, grace and knowledge every time she's on screen. The word "regal" really came to mind for her performance. Don't fool with the matriarch.
The biggest differences from the past films came from the main combatants. Michael B. Jordan's Adonis (Donny) Creed grew from wealth and privilege before becoming a fighter, and now has to deal with success of a different kind. He's the underdog, but he's not as easy to root for as Rocky always was at first, being in a more complex, and confused state. As the title character, its his job to carry the emotional weight of film, and he does that impressively.
I've never been a fighter...or an athlete, ask anyone. However, watching him worry about failing as a new father while his career felt out of control spoke directly to me.
Fortunately, he learned the key lesson of existence, that family and health are far more important than pride and ego, and retires from boxing to take care of what's really important in life.
Ha Ha!
No of course he doesn't.
This is a Rocky movie, which is basically a love story where boxing matches are a metaphor for whatever problems life throws at you.
Therefore, he changes his training method in an awesome musical montage and pays more attention to the important people in his life in order to succeed.
The return of the Drago family is another difference from the past movies. Sure Ivan is still a jerk, but because Dolph Lundgren is intelligent and talented, he's a clearly broken jerk trying to balance several motivations.
Viktor Drago, played by Romanian boxer Florian "Big Nasty" Munteanu, is a few pounds lighter and an inch shorter than Ivan was in Rocky Four (6'5", 250 lbs, egad!), but is no less of a beast
A huge, fast, scary beast.
This is especially true against the much leaner than Apollo, Adonis Creed. Plus he has Ivan's experience training him and in his corner to allow him to react and adapt more easily.
Unlike Rocky films of yore, the villains aren't single note bad guys, and the Dragos do pass through their own story arc as the film progresses.
Viktor is a combination of the most fearsome parts of Clubber Lang and Ivan Drago in the ring, but outside of it, he's the closest to a dual enemy protagonist as these films ever reach, adding an impressive layer of depth considering he's a boxer trying (and succeeding) as an actor.
It wouldn't be a Rocky film without Stallone, and he brings the character we've grown to love over the years to feature legacy, links to the past, and a heaping dose of old man wisdom.
As time passes, for some reason, I become more of a fan of "old man wisdom."
Wisdom was used by the editors as well. Every deleted scene adds something clearly valuable to the story, yet all of them would have messed up the pacing and flow if left in the picture.
If you're a fan, check them out, as well as the other featurettes on the Blu Ray. They are fairly short, but highlight the reasons why the Rocky films are important to and beloved by so many.
Except, my own offspring.
Seriously, that can't be from my side of the family.
Rocky Links
Please click here for the good films
Please click here for the over the top films.
Please click here for the capstone films.
Please click here for the good films
Please click here for the over the top films.
Please click here for the capstone films.
2 comments:
Don't screen Million Dollar Baby
Nope I heard about that one. No way, uh uh, absolutely not.
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