On demand: "Creed II"

By the standards of modern Hollywood, 2015's Creed was a minor miracle: a renewal of pre-existing material (being an offshoot of the Rocky franchise), it connected absolutely with what had worked so well first time round, delivered on the expectations of those pushing for stronger representation in the American mainstream, and - above all else - provided a rock 'em-sock 'em good time at the movies for a sizeable tranche of the cinemagoing public. Director Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan were subsequently snaffled by Marvel for Black Panther purposes, but Jordan stuck around long enough to throw a few more punches in a consolidation sequel. 2018's Creed II picks up and runs with several lesser strands in the Rocky universe; once again, the Russians are coming. As we open, Jordan's Donnie Creed, son of Apollo, is confirmed as world heavyweight champion, and looking around for new challenges and challengers. Enter Ivan Drago - nemesis of 1985's Rocky IV, played again by Dolph Lundgren - who's come West from Kiev (where he's been living in exiled disgrace), playing hypeman for his hulking offspring Viktor. Viktor is played by former amateur boxer Florian Munteanu, living up to his real-life ringname of "Big Nasty", and he doesn't just look like a fighter from a different weight category to Donnie; he looks like a heavyweight champion from another planet. If Creed, then, marked a fresh start, the sequel is very much Rocky business as usual: dads and lads working through their issues, with Tessa Thompson (as Donnie's singer squeeze Bianca) dancing around ringside, trying to get in on the action.

The challenge the first movie set itself was as much how to elevate a wobbly idea (rebooting Rocky) as it was getting a surly street kid into championship-winning shape. (In both cases, the answer was the same: hard work, focus, dedication.) Creed II both is and is about what happens in the wake of an unexpected success. Donnie and Bianca relocate from Philadelphia to the kind of light, spacious L.A. pad Jordan and Thompson could themselves afford after renegotiating contracts; there, they weigh up the pros and cons of having the kids that will doubtless be the basis of a second reboot in twenty years' time, and mull over either offers (Donnie) or ideas pitched in the writers' room as to how to move the series on (the actors). By now, everybody knows what works. The fights remain involving spectacle: mini-narratives in themselves, they're some way more involving and bruising than any number of car chases in a Fast & Furious movie. This script, credited to Juel Taylor and the returning Sly Stallone, is even quite bold in placing Donnie's inevitable match-up with Viktor mid-movie, the better to study how any champ responds to being (badly) knocked down. 

Around it, however, a little more uncertainty becomes visible; where Coogler seemed to know exactly what he wanted, replacement director Steven Caple Jr. allows the question "so what now?" to sit too close to the camera, and thus the action. The opening act teases a reunion between Rocky and his own son (Milo Ventimiglia, last seen in 2007's Rocky Balboa); again, it's dads and lads, but it also means Rocky's sidelined back in Philly, trying to replace a bulb in his restaurant. That's a shame, because the old dog spars well with Donnie, who needs shaking out of a funk at various points here; so clearly is this series linked to the fate of its protagonist that whenever Donnie loses focus/starts shrugging, so too does the movie. Still, you sense this franchise has gathered a good, reliable team around it. Capel Jr. fires off some nice sundown shots as Donnie enters the desert for final training, but Creed II is more of a producer's film than a directorial showcase; it's been assembled and packaged rather than realised, ensuring each character beat is paid off and every old score gets settled. The element that prevents it from seeming impersonal - just business - is Jordan, working hard to navigate his own path between new-dad softness and gym-buffed hardness. This may, in fact, be a better vehicle for the actor to prove his leading-man mettle than the first film, given the weight now resting on Donnie Creed's shoulders. As the boxer finds his way back towards the (pay-per-view) light(s), so too does the franchise: a third film follows this week, with Jordan himself in the director's chair.

Creed II is now streaming on Netflix, and available on DVD through Warner Bros; Creed III opens in cinemas tomorrow, and will be reviewed here in due course.