Creed II Review: 6 Ups & 3 Downs

Downs...

3. It's Totally Predictable

Some will argue that predictability isn't really a suitable criticism of the Rocky franchise considering that the overwhelming majority of the movies follow an incredibly similar trajectory, and being surprised isn't really the point.

Be that as it may, it does feel like the series should be attempting something a little more adventurous eight movies in, because if you've seen any of the trailers for Creed II, you won't have much trouble piecing together the relatively by-the-numbers plot.

There are some occasional wrinkles which provide a few neat surprises, but the A-to-B-to-C through-line of Adonis Creed's (Michael B. Jordan) journey is almost exactly what you expect it to be.

It's especially disappointing as there were some incredibly signposted moments where the movie could've taken a dramatic left-turn and served up something a little different, but instead it lightly flirts with these possibilities before moving on as expected.