New Creed II trailer shows the film series’ realism has fallen off a cliff
A second official movie trailer for Creed II has just been released. New footage shows that this film relies on suspension of disbelief.
On Wednesday, Sept. 26, a second official trailer for Creed II was released to the public. Creed II carries on the Rocky film series’ legacy and is essentially Rocky VIII, but relabeled under the “Creed” banner. The Rocky films have always played loosely with realism regarding boxing, but based on the new Creed II trailer, the series’ hold on reality has fallen off a cliff.
Sylvester Stallone created the screenplay for Rocky and starred in the film in 1976. It was critically acclaimed and earned Stallone Oscar nominations for “Best Actor in a Leading Role” and “Best Original Screenplay.” Stallone created a lovable underdog whose personality captivated audiences.
Stallone created six more Rocky films with all but the fifth receiving high praise from the franchise’s fans. In 2015, Creed was released. Stallone wrote the screenplay and received an Academy nomination for “Best Supporting Actor.” Rocky Balboa was part of the story, but Adonis Johnson, Apollo Creed’s illegitimate son, is the story’s focus. Michael B. Jordan plays Adonis Johnson, and the film was a great success, earning more than $170 million at the box office.
Nov. 21 is the release date for Creed II. Nearly two months before the film’s release, MGM issued a new trailer to help hype its coming. The trailer is 2:36 in length and reveals a general outline of the movie’s plot.
Creed II connects back to 1985’s Rocky IV. In Rocky IV, Apollo Creed is killed in the ring by Russian boxer Ivan Drago. Rocky avenges Creed’s death by knocking out Drago in the 15th round of a fight filled with knockdowns and brutality.
In Creed II, Drago’s son Viktor is an up and coming boxer who challenges Adonis Johnson to a fight. Of course, Johnson accepts to partially avenge his father’s death against the son of the man that murdered his father in the ring. It’s creative and engaging, but the selection of Florian Munteanu to play Drago’s son deeply hurts any semblance of realism the film possesses.
Munteanu is an unknown, but multiple online sources cite him as a professional boxer and kickboxer. There is no record of him having ever participated in a professional boxing match. Boxrec.com is an online database that keeps records of professional boxers around the world. They have no information on Munteanu, so his legitimacy as a professional boxer is nothing but a fugazi. His reputation is probably contrived to help bolster the film’s credibility. He looks good on camera, but he’s not a professional boxer. He’s also billed as a “fitness star” on social media. That representation is much more accurate.
In Creed, Adonis Johnson is a light heavyweight. In the film’s final battle, Johnson challenges ‘Pretty’ Ricky Conlan, played by professional boxer Tony Bellew, for his world title. Bellew was a great selection for Conlan. Bellew fought as a light heavyweight for years before moving up in weight. Bellew’s physique looked realistic on the film.
Based on the trailer, Michael B. Jordan looks to be about the same weight as the first movie. Let’s assume he’s still supposed to be a light heavyweight. In all of the shots including Munteanu, there’s a massive size disparity.
Jordan is six feet tall, and he appears to be anywhere between 175-190 pounds. Munteanu is 6-foot-4 and weighs about 245 pounds. How can a light heavyweight fight a heavyweight in a sanctioned professional boxing match? They can’t, but there are exceptions to the rule.
Munteanu can’t pass as a light heavyweight, so the only way a bout between the two is possible is if Jordan’s character beefs himself up to near 200 pounds. Jordan doesn’t look like he’s 200 pounds, but maybe the aim is to show he’s moving up in weight to challenge a heavyweight who greatly outweighs him.
This scenario played out in 2003 when Roy Jones Jr. moved up to heavyweight from light heavyweight to challenge John Ruiz for his WBA heavyweight title. At the weigh-in, Jones only weighed 193 pounds to Ruiz’s 226. Technically, this shouldn’t have been allowed since the heavyweight division’s weight limit is anything above 200 pounds. However, sanctioning bodies make their own rules when the opportunity is lucrative and suits their agenda.
Jones defeated Ruiz to win the WBA title. The fight was boring, but it was a huge accomplishment for Jones. It appears that Creed II is following the same archetype. It’s unrealistic but possible.
The “David vs. Goliath” contest between Adonis Johnson and Viktor Drago parallels the dynamic between Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. The only difference is that Balboa was always a heavyweight and Johnson is a light heavyweight. The Balboa-Drago fictional bout was more realistic than Johnson-Drago.
Next. Ousley trying the less traveled boxing path. dark
Hopefully, Stallone and the director, Steven Caple Jr., explain the size difference between Johnson and Drago in the film similarly to the 2003 contest between Jones and Ruiz. It’s the only explanation that has an air of reality. Asking audiences to buy that they are in the same weight class would be too much. Let’s hope Stallone and Caple address this issue in the movie’s plot. If they don’t, then the Rocky series becomes pure fantasy.