I love almost everything about the Rocky franchise. The original Rocky deserves its accolades; Rocky II wasn’t great but it was a satisfying sequel. Rocky III is still my favorite despite it being the epitome of all things 80’s, and Rocky IV is both one of the best Cold War movies and one of the best sports movies of its time. Now, Rocky V was pure garbage from start to finish, but let’s just leave that aside and move on. Rocky Balboa was an unexpected reanimation of a storyline we thought was dead and buried, and Creed furthered the tale along. The franchise seemed primed for several more films.
Then along came Creed II, with played-out archetypes, a predictable storyline, forced tension, and lackluster stakes. It was a disappointment and may have stopped the franchise dead in its tracks. It was on the verge of doing something great, had it the guts to return to its roots. It was a lost opportunity, so let’s fix it, shall we?
The Nerd Cut: Creed II
Whatever happened to Ivan Drago? That theme plays out during the opening credits, a series of cut scenes set to music where we see Ivan Drago’s life after losing to Rocky Balboa in Rocky IV. We see Drago stripped of his military rank by the Soviets, tried for his attack against his trainer, and his very public political crime against the Politburo. His wife leaves him and he’s sentenced to forced labor somewhere in Russia. We see him emerge a broken, tired man, and the final shot of the intro credits is of him standing in an abandoned boxing gym.
The movie starts five years after the events of Creed. Adonis Creed is now established as the Heavyweight champion. Having defended his title a few times, he is currently being interviewed about his future status. We learn he is happily married to Bianca, a musician whose career took a back seat to his immediately following the events of the first film. Their marriage is good but strained by the challenges of fame, money, media scrutiny, and raising two young children including a newborn. Adonis and Bianca argue about a previous arrangement that she would get to focus on her career after five years, working from home in their studio while he takes a step back from boxing for a season or two. Reluctantly he agrees to honor his end of the bargain.
Cut to rural Russia. A young boxer wins a significant bout and it’s clear that he can challenge Adonis Creed for the title. Powerful Russian and American boxing promoters, learning that Ivan Drago is his trainer, see the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the history between Apollo Creed’s son, Adonis, and Drago, the man who killed his father. With economic pressure and mafia style threats, they strongarm Drago into agreeing to the campaign. We get to know the young boxer, his family and young wife, and learn that he has no interest in the rivalry; he merely wants to provide for his family, who doubts boxing is a means to accomplish that. He’s a likeable character, out of his element within the sports marketing world, and much like Rocky in the first film, gets exploited by the boxing elite as merely a name to capitalize on.
A media campaign broils up with both boxers and their trainers as somewhat unwilling parties in the whirlwind. For his part, Rocky wrestles with the trauma of Apollo’s death and unforgiveness toward Drago. All of the major players have reservations. Adonis agrees to the fight after more pressure from promoters, which is nearly a breaking point for both Bianca and Adonis’ mother.
Sometime after the first press conference, Drago asks for a private meeting with Rocky and they sit down over coffee one afternoon. This scene is the most important in the film, perhaps the franchise, because it gives Rocky the chance to reflect on a lifetime of struggle and lessons learned. For his part, Drago expresses his pain and remorse for killing Apollo. He stuns Rocky nearly to tears after telling his story and asking for forgiveness. Drago then asks whether Apollo’s widow would be willing to forgive him. Both Rocky and Drago lament their career paths and end up liking one another.
By the time the fight rolls around we have both fighters wrestling with reservations – Adonis because of his marriage, the Russian boxer due to the unsavory nature of the spectacle. The Russian’s wife is also excoriated on social media by internet trolls and their young family wonders if the money is worth any of it.
They fight, and after twelve rounds Adonis is about to lose but is saved by the bell. The decision goes to him but instead of taking the belt, he hands it to the Russian and announces his retirement – his permanent retirement.
After a few closing scenes we see Adonis and Bianca host the young Russian family in their home for dinner and the Creeds give them some advice. “All of this is nice,” Adonis says, motioning to the lavish home, “but it’s not worth losing your marriage over, or your soul, or your life. My pops learned that the hard way, and I never knew him as a result.” The camera pulls back as the parents admire their toddlers playing with one another.
Cut to Drago and Rocky entering a boxing gym late at night. Rocky turns on some lights and removes his jacket. Drago does the same and it looks like they’re gearing up for a private sparring session. But then they walk past the ring and upstairs to Rocky’s office. He pours Drago a cup of coffee and the men sit down at a chess board across from one another.
“You know, I first learned how to play this game while training to fight you.”
They make a few moves.
“My trainer said it was good for learning how to plan ahead. To formulate strategy.”
“It is,” Drago agrees, taking pieces from Rocky.
“Yeah, well. I don’t get much time to play these days.”
Drago takes another of Rocky’s pieces. “Checkmate.”
Rocky sits back, sips his coffee, and sighs.
“You were a much better boxer,” Drago smiles. “Want to go again?”
“Naw, I’m good.”
End Credits.
Subscribe to receive new posts on Wednesdays: http://vinceguerra.com/allies
The Nerd Cut: Avengers Endgame