Creed II Review: 6 Ups & 3 Downs

3. The Intense Fight Scenes

Though we've already covered how the movie's fight scenes can't match the stylish aplomb of Ryan Coogler's work on the previous film, it's reasonable to say that Steven Caple, Jr. does easily his best work in the movie during the boxing set-pieces.

The two battles between Creed and Drago are shot and edited for high visceral impact, with every rib shot sure to make the audience wince, in large part thanks to the excellent sound editing.

While some of the middle-era Rocky movies got a little carried away with the comically OTT punching sound effects, like the last few films Creed II takes a more grounded, less-exaggerated approach that's ultimately more believable and engaging.

Aside from perhaps a few too many slow-mo shots, the fights are exciting as hell and ensure easy audience investment.