Film

Creed II

Name: Creed II
Genre: Drama, Action
Released: 2018
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris, Russell Hornsby

Martial arts action

Creed II deepens Adonis's story by dragging his past into the ring. It's a boxing drama that trades pure sports spectacle for something messier: legacy, family trauma, and whether you can escape who your parents were. Stallone remains the emotional anchor. It's for people who loved the first Creed and care about character more than knockout sequences.

TMDb rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like sports dramas where the boxing matters less than the family pressure squeezing the fighter from every side, and you don't mind a sequel that leans on its predecessor's emotional weight.

Skip it if you want the training montages and ring violence to be the point, since the film spends long stretches on domestic scenes and a relationship that keeps circling the same worries.

What it asks of you: It runs just over two hours and takes its time, so settle in for a patient build before the big bouts arrive, with the emotional beats landing as hard as the punches.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Rocky IV1985

The original Cold War showdown that haunts Creed II's plot. Stallone's Rocky facing off against Ivan Drago is the shadow this entire film is wrestling with. Essential context and genuinely thrilling.

But It's from 1985 and shows its age badly. The politics are broad, the dialogue clunky, and the training montage goes on forever.

Southpaw2015

Jake Gyllenhaal's boxer grapples with grief and fatherhood after tragedy. Like Creed II, it's about men learning to sit with pain rather than just punch it. Lean, intense, and deeply felt.

But It's bleak in ways that can feel relentless. If you're watching for uplift, this will exhaust you instead.

The Wire2002

Michael B. Jordan's breakout role as Wallace shows why he carries Creed with such depth. Five seasons of Baltimore crime drama that rewired what TV could be. Devastating and necessary.

But It demands attention across 60 episodes. You cannot half-watch it. Also: Wallace's arc will hurt you in ways that linger.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Creed II

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Godfather Part II1974

Both are sequels that expand their universe by making the protagonist reckon with inherited violence and family obligation—not as plot, but as the central wound.

Like Creed II, it's a sequel that deepens the mythology by splitting time between past and present, showing how legacy poisons everyone. Michael Corleone's tragedy is Adonis's mirror: you cannot escape your father's choices.

But It's nearly four hours and demands active watching. The structure is complex. If you want straightforward narrative, this will frustrate you.

Creed2015

The first film that proved you could revive Rocky's world without nostalgia. Michael B. Jordan is phenomenal, and the boxing sequences are shot like art. Stallone's comeback performance is the heartbeat.

But If you haven't seen any Rocky films, some emotional beats won't land the way they should. The narrative is deliberately familiar.

Warrior2011

Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as brothers divided by class and trauma, fighting in an MMA tournament. Like Creed II, it uses combat to excavate family damage. Raw and surprisingly moving.

But The villain is underdeveloped. The third act leans into sentiment in ways that might feel manipulative to you.

Moonlight2016

Another film about Black male identity and vulnerability that earned Michael B. Jordan's respect. Three chapters of a life lived in fragments. Quiet, visual, hypnotic. A work of real art.

But There's minimal plot. If you need narrative momentum and dialogue-driven story, this will feel glacial and oblique.

Cinderella Man2005

Russell Crowe as a Depression-era boxer fighting to provide for his family. It has the same DNA as Creed II—legacy, obligation, proving yourself in the ring—but set against economic collapse.

But It's sentimental in places where Creed II isn't. The film sometimes announces its emotional beats rather than letting them breathe.

Body and Soul1947

An early boxing film about a poor boxer who has to choose between money and integrity. It's where the genre's moral questions come from. Shot in stunning black and white, still alive.

But It's from the 1940s and requires patience with older cinema rhythms. The dialogue can feel overly theatrical to modern ears.

O2001

Both examine how Black men navigate spaces built to protect their exploitation—in Creed II, the boxing business; in O, the white institution. Both ask: how much of yourself must you sacrifice to belong?

A retelling of Othello set in a prep school, with Josh Hartnett as the golden athlete corrupted by jealousy. It's Shakespearean tragedy wearing modern clothes, and it sees racism as the engine driving everything. Urgent and brutal.

But It's deeply uncomfortable—racism isn't resolved, it's weaponized. The film doesn't offer catharsis or escape. Fair warning: it ends in genuine darkness.

The Last Temptation of Christ1988

Both films are about men wrestling with inheritance—one genetic, one cosmic—and finding agency through pain rather than refusing it. Both suggest redemption requires accepting what came before.

Scorsese's Dario Argento-influenced visual fever dream about a man choosing his destiny. It's spiritual and strange, about suffering as meaning-making. Wildly different from Creed II but driven by the same question: can you choose who you become?

But It's visually exhausting, theologically difficult, and Scorsese doesn't make easy art. It will divide you on whether it's profound or pretentious.