The Creed 2 Director is Sylvester Stallone

I'm assuming you mean 2016's Rocky Balboa and not the original Rocky and I can't say I agree.

Rocky Balboa had some great moments (we all know which ones) and the last fight was well done. But it was a bit too shallow, generic, and a retread. It was about Rocky 'having some fire in the belly' and feeling unfulfilled and that's what launched him to do what he does but in terms of exploring that, the movie wasn't interested. Life just wasn't what he wanted so he did a fight and happily ever after. The only real themes the movie brought to the table were of old values adapting to a new world...and we've seen that a hundred times before and a hundred times better.

The Rocky series are supposed to be cheesy-pick-me-ups, sure but the original Rocky was about more than that; the biggest fight in the original Rocky was happening the whole movie and was against life. It wasn't about beating an unfair world but understanding how to live in it. Balboa mimicked these themes but only wore it like a shell. His speech to his son was about as close as it got but it felt hollow and there for the sake of it, rather than being the driving heart of the film.

Creed, on the other hand, did pick up the spirit of the original. It wasn't just a great pick-me-up film, but the themes and sub themes didn't just reference the original but built on them Cancer, broken families, broken cities, relationships in difficult circumstances. Rocky was a lovable protagonist in Rocky Balboa but the series needed to move past lovable main characters and give us someone more flawed and that's what Adonis was. He wasn't just a lovable guy making his way, he was struggling with insecurities, self-loathing, and an anger that the film DID take the time to explore.

In comparison, Creed's defining moment (when Adonis tells Rocky that he's fighting to prove he wasn't a mistake) becomes the heart of the entire film, filling every other moment (all his failures and successes) with blood and giving the movie life. The training through the city was more than just a retread of the Philly stairs; it was a new way to approach it, by enveloping the city's struggle with the character himself.

I'm not saying Creed is the perfect film or that Rocky Balboa is a bad film. But Creed didn't build on it's predecessor, it built on the original; what it managed to do was be a modern day Rocky movie rather than Rocky Balboa, which was a classic Rocky movie dressed up as a modern film.

/r/movies Thread Parent Link - slashfilm.com