ScreenFish

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Dolph Lundgren

Creed II – Still in Rocky’s Shadow

The Rocky?saga continues with Creed II. It would be nice for the Creed films to have their own identity. It?s not just that they still have Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) in a key role; they both rely heavily on plot from the earlier Rocky films rather than looking for their own paths.

In Creed, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), illegitimate son of Rocky?s foe/friend Apollo Creed, embarks on a boxing career under the Balboa?s tutelage. That film was in part a search by Adonis for a connection to the father he never knew. In the present film, Adonis becomes champion, but soon he is publicly challenged by Victor Drago (Florian ?Big Nasty? Munteanu), son if Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), the fighter who (in the 1985 Rocky IV) killed Apollo in the ring, and was later beaten and disgraced by Rocky. Rocky still carries guilt about not stopping the fight before Apollo was killed. The elder Drago still carries a grudge against Rocky.

Sylvester Stallone stars as Rocky Balboa and Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed and in CREED II, a Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures film. Credit: Barry Wetcher / Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures
? 2018 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Rocky refuses to train Adonis for the fight, but Adonis goes on with Tony Burke, son of Apollo?s trainer. ?After taking a terrible beating, Adonis retains his title on a disqualification. But his life is facing many changes. Not least of which is that his fianc?e Bianca (Tessa Thompson) is having a baby. Is Adonis willing to risk everything in a rematch with so many new responsibilities? (Well, it?s a Rocky movie, isn?t it? Of course there will be a rematch.) In terms of plot, this story develops very like Rocky IV, except than rather that getting killed, Adonis is only almost killed.

Michael B. Jordan stars as Adonis Creed and Tessa Thompson as Bianca in CREED II, a Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film.Credit: Barry Wetcher / Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures

The film seems to want to talk about family, and especially fatherhood. It seems fitting that after the search for a father-figure in Creed, the sequel might want to look at what it will mean to Adonis to become a father. The film certainly offers that opportunity. A subplot deals with Rocky wanting to call his estranged son, but not having the courage to seek a reconciliation. The ingredients for Adonis and Rocky to struggle with what it means to be a father are there, but that theme gets overwhelmed by the boxing. Adonis seems pretty cavalier about the possibility of leaving his child fatherless as his father left him.

This film brings all the familiar emotions of the other Rocky Saga films. I suppose that?s why people like sequels?getting to see the same story again. Like the other films in the series, it relies on many brutal fight scenes. These are more brutal than real boxing, which is brutal in itself. What makes the difference (at least in my mind) between a good and lesser boxing film is if the fighting adds something to the human story being lived out by the characters or if the story is just the mechanism to get to the next fight scene. Creed II gives priority to the boxing. When we walk out of the film, what we remember is the bone-crushing body blows, not the soul-rending doubts that Rocky, Adonis, and Bianca all face. (And because of the father/son relationship of Ivan and Victor, there is a whole other perspective that could have been considered.)

(Right) Florian Munteanu stars as Viktor Drago in CREED II, a Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures film. Credit: Barry Wetcher / Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures
? 2018 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This is why I think the Creed films need to find a new direction out of the Rocky paradigm. They could offer us some depth to justify making us watch the bloody gladiatorial spectacles of overdone boxing.

Don’t Kill It – Demon Runs Rampant

?And though the world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us.? (Martin Luther, ?A Mighty Fortress Is Our God?)

Many modern people?including many Christians?may be uncomfortable with the worldview of devils and angels that seems to be part of Luther?s hymn. In a world where science continues to expand our knowledge of the world, the supernatural gets pushed aside. Yet many people love horror films that show us a ?world with devils filled.? Don?t Kill It certainly has such a world.

In small town Chicory Creek, Mississippi, a series of multiple homicides are taking place. The police chief thinks he can handle it. FBI agent Evelyn Pierce (Kristina Klebe) comes back to the town she grew up in to aid the investigation. Soon thereafter demon hunter Jebediah Woodley (Dolph Lundgren) barges in to tell them they are dealing with the supernatural. Obviously, they think he?s a bit crazy?or involved. But soon it becomes clear that he knows what he?s talking about.

This particular demon sets whoever it inhabits into a murderous fury, killing anyone in sight, until that host is killed. Whoever kills the host becomes the new host carrying on the murder spree. To defeat the demon will mean doing so without killing it?until someone is willing to sacrifice themselves. Jebediah has a history with the demon that goes back to when his father was demon hunting. Evelyn has a history with the town, where when younger she was known as ?Evil Evelyn?. But Jebediah thinks that rather than evil, Evelyn may be a descendant of angels. And if the demon manages to connect with her, it would be catastrophic.

This is a film that does not rely on tension to create horror. Rather it loads the screen with carnage. There are several gore-fests as the demon attacks the community. Blood, limbs, and internal organs are plentiful, as are various ways of killing. The difficulty for Jebediah and Evelyn is that soon, someone steps up to kill the current host to try to stop the attack. So in some of the bloodbaths the killer changes every few seconds.

While the film creates a world in which demons and angels are real, there certainly isn?t much here for people of faith to see the working of God. The priest in the local church is not only not helpful, he stands in opposition to Jebediah?s work, believing that Evelyn (and Jebediah by association) is an agent of Satan. The priest isn?t so much demon possessed as stupid possessed. Not a very pleasant reflection on God?s people. Indeed, in this story, the demon is not fazed by anything godly, only by the human ingenuity of Jebediah.

In Luther?s ?A Mighty Fortress Is Our God? the line about the ?world with devils filled? is only a set up for Luther to reflect on the power of God in Christ to defeat those demons. While the film seeks to create a world that allows for the reality of good and evil, it does so without showing us anything that actually represents the power that can defeat evil.

Photos courtesy of DKI Films