Father of all boxing sequels a bit Rocky
CREED II ★★★ (Cert 12A, 130mins)
CREED was a knockout that nobody saw coming. In 2016 young director Ryan Coogler hauled the ailing Rocky franchise off the canvas with a gritty and touching drama about young boxer Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) who was trying to fight his way out of his famous father's shadow.
That 2016 film also saw Sylvester Stallone deliver one of his most nuanced performances. There were notes here we'd not heard before. Rocky, Adonis's trainer, was now fighting cancer and mourning the loss of everyone he had ever cared for.
Sadly, Creed II, unofficially Rocky VIII, telegraphs most of its blows from its opening round.
Here Stallone, who returns as co-writer, is replaying the beats of 1985's Rocky IV. There the perpetual underdog avenged the death of his best friend Apollo Creed, killed during a tragic fight against evil Soviet boxer Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren).
But now Drago is back. Losing in that Moscow showdown saw him forfeit his fame, the respect of his countrymen and the love of his statuesque wife Ludmilla (Brigitte Nielsen making an imperious return).
He has been busy turning his son Viktor (Florian Munteanu) into a cartoon Russian villain so he can restage the tragic fight where he killed Adonis's father.
We find Adonis where we left him. He's now a cocky champion nervously preparing to propose to his singer girlfriend Bianca (Tessa Thompson).
But soon a very familiar plot begins to take shape with the challenge from a dangerous foreigner, a falling out with his trainer, a brutal defeat and a music-scored training montage (this time, shot in the desert rather than frozen Siberia).
Jordan and Stallone are fine actors but neither man is tested by the formulaic script. Stallone won an Oscar nomination for Creed but here his emotional range is defined by graveside chats with his dead wife Adrian and rousing inspirational speeches to his boxing protégé.
Stallone announced yesterday this would be his final performance as Rocky and you get the feeling he has done all he can with this character. Creed II takes an entertaining trip down memory lane but it feels like a backwards step.
THREE IDENTICAL
STRANGERS ★★★★★ (Cert 12A, 97mins)
“THIS is the where the story starts to get a little funky,” says an interviewee halfway through this astonishing documentary.
She isn't talking about the disco scene in early 80s New York, where this stranger-thanfiction true story played out. She is warning of a dark twist that turns this tale on its head.
We begin with Robert Shafran reminiscing about his first day at college. It was 1980 and the 19-year-old was looking for his room in the school's dorm.
To his surprise, as he walked through campus he received pats on the back and affectionate hugs from complete strangers. Then a shocked student asked him two questions: “Were you adopted?” and “Were you born on July 1?”
When Robert answered yes to both, the student told him that his identical twin Edward Galland was also studying at the college. But then the story got even weirder. David Kellman opened a newspaper and saw two smiling faces that looked just like his own.
The triplets became instant celebrities and regular guests on American chat shows where they told audiences about how they had led eerily similar lives. On
the surface, it seemed the age-old question of nature versus nurture had finally been answered. They moved in with each other, milked their time in the limelight and opened a restaurant called, unsurprisingly, Triplets.
But their adoptive parents were less delighted. They wanted to know why the adoption agency hadn’t told them about the other two children.
The tale of joyful reunions evolves into a story of betrayal and corruption. Like the best documentaries, this film gets more fascinating the deeper it probes.
RALPH BREAKS THE
INTERNET HHHH (Cert PG, 112mins)
DISNEY’S hit 2013 animation Wreck-It Ralph was like Toy Story with video games. When an old-fashioned arcade closed at night, the characters from the games came alive and were able to climb into each other’s virtual words.
The sequel is a touch darker and a lot more ambitious. This time the titular hero explores the world of the internet. The film opens with Ralph (John C. Reilly) breaking the controller to the racing game home of his best friend Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman).
After hearing a replacement can be found at a place called eBay, the two pals travel through their arcade’s new WiFi connection and arrive in a visual representation of the internet.
Here there are annoying “pop up” salesmen toting get-rich schemes, a little search engine man who keeps trying to finish your sentences (his “autofill setting” is set too high) and giant skyscrapers plastered with the names of internet giants such as Amazon and Pinterest.
The funniest scene takes place in the headquarters of Oh My Disney (a real site) where Vanellope finds herself in a room packed with the studio’s princesses.
To find out her quest, the girls advise her to stare at a body of water and sing. And to check her princess credentials, they ask if she expects to be saved by a strong man. Clearly, this Disney film isn’t afraid to bite the hand that feeds it.
Vanellope’s would-be saviour Ralph is trying to raise money for the controller by starring in a series of humiliating clickbait videos, a witty sequence that cleverly satirises the banality of YouTube stardom.
“This place can bring out the worst in some people,” admits “algorithm” Yesss (Taraji P. Henson) as Ralph wanders into the comments section. “Watching Ralph in anguish fuels me,” reads one of many aggressive posts beneath Ralph’s viral videos.
This is a dark and unusually complex concept for a kids’ film.
If Ralph becomes goes on to become the star of a new Disney franchise, this dark instalment could be its Empire Strikes Back.
SURVIVING CHRISTMAS WITH THE RELATIVES H (Cert 15, 101mins)
THE British film industry never forgets its festive obligations but this year it’s gone to town.
This overcooked and utterly tasteless family comedy could be the biggest Christmas turkey served up in many years.
Here the trimmings have been laid out for a US audience. Every Brit is eccentric, plummy, achingly polite and played by someone who recently featured on American TV.
Architect Dan (Downton Abbey’s Julian Ovenden) is marshalling Polish workmen as they make last-minute repairs to his sprawling country house.
His wife Miranda (Game Of
Thrones’ Gemma Whelan) is excited that her movie star sister Lyla (The Tudors’ Joely Richardson) and her American husband Trent (Hooten & The Lady’s Michael Landes) are coming to stay.
Inevitably there are a series of bawdy mishaps. The family dog takes Viagra and the kids catch an elderly aunt (Patricia Hodge) using a vibrator.
Then the Aga breaks down shortly after the Poles, who live in a caravan in their garden, get plastered on vodka and are arrested. If you think drunken Poles are, well, a bit racist, wait until you see their Asian guest (Jade Ma) pick some festive music.
Guess who her favourite singer is? That’s right, it’s “Blyan Felly”.
ROMA HHHH (Cert 15, 135mins)
NETFLIX is desperate for one of its original films to win an Oscar. To qualify, it has allowed its most likely winner to be released in cinemas ahead of its December 14 debut on the streaming service.
Set in the Roma district of Mexico City where Gravity director Alfonso Cuarón grew up in the 1970s, we see day-to-day life in a wealthy family home from the perspective of live-in maid Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio). As the family begins to fall apart, we realise how much they rely on her for support.
Filmed in gorgeous black and white, Roma demands to be seen on a huge screen. An odd project for a home streaming service.