Creed II Review: 6 Ups & 3 Downs

2. Ryan Coogler's Direction Is Sorely Missed

One of the main reasons for Creed's success was Ryan Coogler's outstanding direction, which helped make the generic tropes feel fresh, while serving up by far the most visually compelling fight scenes in the entire series.

With Coogler busy directing Black Panther, though, he and Stallone selected young indie director Steven Caple, Jr. as his replacement.

And while Caple certainly does a decent enough job - especially given his lack of Hollywood experience - his approach just lacks the confidence and persuasiveness of Coogler's assured work last time.

There are no flashy single-take boxing matches, the dialogue often defers to a boring shot-reverse-shot format, and ultimately the film just feels like it has less of a personality than its predecessor.

There's no directorial stamp here to speak of, and while Caple should be lauded for not simply trying to copy Coogler's style, he also doesn't bring much to the table that's terribly memorable in terms of shot selections.

His work with his actors, at least, is terrific, but more on that later.