Creed II (2018)
Under the tutelage of Rocky Balboa, newly crowned heavyweight champion Adonis Creed faces off against Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago.
Years after Adonis Creed made a name for himself under Rocky Balboa's mentorship, the young boxer becomes the Heavyweight Champion of the World. While life is good with that victory and his marriage to Bianca, trouble comes to Philadelphia when Ivan Drago, the Russian boxer who killed Adonis' father, Apollo, arrives with his son, Viktor, to challenge Adonis. Against Rocky's advice, Adonis accepts the challenge without his mentor's participation and pays the price in a punishing bout he wins only by a technicality. Now injured and demoralized, Adonis cannot bring himself to back into the game, leaving his spirit and title in jeopardy. Together, Adonis' family and Rocky must find a way to rekindle Adonis' fighting spirit to face the future in whatever choice he makes. Meanwhile, the Drago family have its own troubles trying to regain the respect in their homeland that they lost at Rocky's hands as they wonder whether is it truly worth it.
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Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
Three years after his loss to "Pretty" Ricky Conlan, Adonis Creed scores a string of victories, culminating in a victory over Danny "Stuntman" Wheeler (Andre Ward) to win the WBC World Heavyweight Championship. Now a worldwide star, Adonis proposes to his girlfriend, Bianca Taylor, who agrees to marry him. When Bianca suggests starting a new life together in Los Angeles, Adonis is reluctant to leave his life in Philadelphia behind. Meanwhile, Ivan Drago, a former Soviet boxer who killed Adonis' father, Apollo Creed, in the ring thirty-three years earlier, sees an opportunity to regain the glory that was taken from him as a result of his loss to Rocky Balboa in Moscow later that same year by pitting his son, Viktor Drago (with the assistance of Buddy Marcelle, a promoter who has followed Viktor's career closely), against Adonis. When Rocky refuses to support Adonis's decision to accept Viktor's challenge, Adonis, feeling betrayed, decides to leave for Los Angeles.
Adonis Creed is on top of the world after winning the WBC World Heavyweight championship and successfully proposing to his girlfriend Bianca. But his world soon comes crashing down when Ivan Drago, the man who killed his father, Apollo Creed, comes to America with his son to challenge the new champion and avenge his loss to Rocky Balboa 30 years ago.
—
Ricky Lyon
Adonis Creed is heavyweight champion of the world. To defend his title, he accepts a challenge from someone with a very close connection to Creed: Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago, the man who killed Creed's father Apollo in the ring. Ivan is coaching his son and is determined to win the belt that Rocky took from him. Viktor Drago is unstoppable and Creed's odds against him are slim.
—
grantss
Kiev, Ukraine
Rocky Balboa's former nemesis Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) wakes up his son Viktor (Florian Munteanu) to start training. They later go to a boxing match where Viktor competes against another man. With his massive size and strength, Viktor dominates and knocks out his opponent. Watching them from the crowd is a promoter named Buddy Marcelle (Russell Hornsby).
Meanwhile, in the U.S, In the three years since he made a name for himself, Adonis "Donnie" Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has managed to score seven wins in a row after losing by default to Pretty Ricky Conlan. He is set to go up against Danny "Stuntman" Wheeler (Andre Ward) for a Championship match. Donnie has a few word with Rocky who reminds him that he needs to fight for himself and nothing else. He is also visited by his girlfriend Bianca (Tessa Thompson) just before the match. Donnie steps into the ring and fights Wheeler whom he defeats, earning the cheers of thousands of fans as well as the WBC World Heavyweight Championship.
After the match, Donnie approaches Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) with an engagement ring that he wants to give to Bianca, but isn't quite sure what to say. He asks Rocky what he said to Adrian when he proposed, and Rocky says it was something stupid, but it was his way of saying how much he loved and needed her. He tells Donnie to let his heart do the talking. That night, Donnie tries to propose to Bianca after she gets out of the shower, and he expresses his feelings towards her, but her hearing aid wasn't properly tuned, so she didn't hear anything and just sees Donnie on one knee with the ring. Bianca is overwhelmed initially and isn't sure what to think, but after Donnie assures her how much she means to him, she accepts his proposal.
Rocky visits Adrian's grave to talk to her. He mentions that he has not spoken to their son Robert since he left Philadelphia years ago, and hasn't even met his grandson yet.
The Dragos arrive in Philly with Buddy backing them. Ivan visits Rocky's restaurant to face his nemesis for the first time in over 30 years. Ivan tells Rocky just how much he lost when Rocky defeated him back then. He not only lost all respect from Russia, but also his wife who left him and Viktor, so this match is especially personal to Ivan. Meanwhile, Donnie and Bianca go out to eat and see a news report on Viktor challenging Donnie for his Championship title. The news people don't fail to mention that Viktor is the son of the man who killed Donnie's father.
During one of Bianca's concerts, Buddy approaches Donnie to essentially goad him into fighting Viktor. Afterwards, Donnie goes to talk to Rocky about the match. Knowing all too well how it ended for Apollo when he fought Ivan, Rocky doesn't want to see history repeat itself. He also hates that Donnie has no good reason to enter this fight but anger and hatred. He tries to convince Donnie to rethink his decision to fight Viktor, but Donnie is adamant in going along with it. Rocky decides to sit this one out and refuses to train Donnie for this fight.
Donnie and Bianca, now settling in a new apartment in Los Angeles, later go to the home of Mary Anne (Phylicia Rashad) to try and tell her about the fight. When Donnie tries to approach the subject, Mary Anne instinctively guesses that they came to announce that Bianca is pregnant. Although the couple laughs it off, Bianca then goes to take a pregnancy test, which confirms that she is. Donnie then goes to tell Mary Anne about the fight. She is obviously not thrilled to hear that Donnie wants to fight but allows him to with the condition that he does not involve her or Apollo in his reasoning for going through with it.
Donnie goes to find Tony "Little Duke" Evers (Wood Harris), son of the man who trained Apollo. He asks Little Duke to train him for the upcoming match which Tony agrees to.
Soon, a match between Donnie and Viktor is held. Prior to the match, Ivan makes a comment about Apollo that almost sends Donnie into a rage. During the match, Donnie seems confident in himself, managing to get in a few good head shots to Viktor, but Viktor regroups quickly and comes back with some powerful shots of his own. Rocky watches the fight alone in his restaurant. Viktor delivers some hard punches to Donnie's ribs, eventually fracturing them. He lands another brutal shot to the ribs which takes Donnie down to his knees, and then knocks him out with an illegal head shot. Viktor is disqualified for the head shot, while everyone else watches with concern as Donnie's immediate health status is unclear.
Donnie survives the fight and spends some time recovering, but his spirit is broken. Rocky tries to visit him at the hospital but quickly realizes he is not welcomed, so he leaves. In the following weeks, Bianca notices how distant Donnie is growing from everybody, especially her. Little Duke later approaches Donnie to tell him that Viktor wants a rematch since Donnie is still the official champion. He also tells him that he can choose not to fight Viktor but he still has to pick an opponent to fight soon, or else he will forfeit the title. Donnie appears disinterested and leaves without answering. Meanwhile, Mary Anne sends a message to Rocky telling him that Donnie needs him, written on the back of a sonogram picture of the upcoming baby. Rocky makes the trip to Los Angeles and surprises Donnie at his mom's house. The two exchange a few barbs and eventually make peace.
In Russia, the Dragos are having a celebratory dinner for Viktor's success, which is disrupted when Ivan's ex-wife and Viktor's mother Ludmilla (Brigitte Nielsen) shows up with her new husband out of the blue. Viktor is displeased and walks out, but Ivan follows him and insists that these people are there for them.
Eventually, Bianca gives birth to a baby girl that she and Donnie name Amara. The doctors then do a test on Amara to see if she has the same hearing problem as her mother. To their dismay, the doctors determine that Amara is born deaf. Outside, Rocky makes an attempt to call Robert, but then backs out of it.
Not long after Amara's birth, Bianca leaves Adonis alone with the baby for one night. The baby starts crying and Donnie finds himself unable to stop it. Out of inspiration, he takes the baby out on a ride that leads them to the gym. The baby quiets down and even smiles at her father when she sees him hitting the punching bag. This inspires Donnie and he later has a serious discussion with Bianca about fighting Viktor one more time. Bianca agrees but make Donnie swear he will get back to his family. She then tells him that he better win. Adonis then meets with Little Duke and Rocky to discuss details and ask Rocky if he'll train him this time. Rocky agrees and orders Little Duke to call the WBC and make it official.
Rocky decides to take Donnie to a remote location in the middle of the desert where every gym equipment is made up of rough materials to reinvigorate his spirit and make him accustomed to hellish conditions. They focus a lot on building strength and close combat situations. Meanwhile, Ivan puts Viktor through more intense and harsh training sessions.
The night of the rematch comes and takes place in Moscow. The Russian crowd obviously boo Donnie as he enters the arena, but Rocky, Bianca, and Mary Anne are there to support him. As the match begins, Donnie dominates the first round to send a clear message that this fight will not be like the previous one. However, Viktor, again, regroups quickly in the second round and takes the lead with several body shots to Donnie's ribs, and hard shots to the head. Viktor wins the next couple of rounds and sends Donnie to the ground, but Donnie refuses to stay down and keeps getting back to his feet. In their respective corners, Rocky tries to give Donnie cues to take Viktor down, while Ivan tells Viktor to just break Donnie again. Soon, Donnie starts to land more effective blows, even managing to knock Viktor down twice. When it appears that Donnie may be about to claim victory, Ludmilla leaves with her husband. Ivan and Viktor take notice, and Viktor appears to just lose the will to fight. Donnie starts laying in more hits, until Ivan, who can no longer bear to watch, throws in the towel, thereby conceding the fight and allowing Donnie to remain champion. Ivan goes to his son, who brushes him off, thinking he will only give him hell for the loss, but Ivan instead embraces Viktor. In the other corner, Rocky salutes Adonis with a fist bump and tells him "It's your time now", before leaving.
Rocky finally travels to Chicago to visit Robert (Milo Ventimiglia) and he meets Robert's son Logan (Robbie Johns). Robert introduces Logan to his grandfather and invites him inside. Rocky gives his son a hug.
In the final scene, Donnie goes with Bianca to visit Apollo's grave. He makes peace with his father's name and legacy, now that he is in the process of shaping his own. He then introduces Amara to her grandfather.
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