Forty-two years of wisdom, resilience, and triumph. But this is still only the beginning.

The recently released “Creed II” is absolutely worth seeing this holiday season.

Michael B. Jordan takes the lead for the second time as Adonis Creed, a haughty boxer who is in the mindset of avenging his father, Apollo Creed after being challenged by the son of Ivan Drago, who killed Apollo almost thirty years ago. Sylvester Stallone returns for the eighth time as the unsung hero, Rocky Balboa, where he has to face a former enemy who killed his best friend and left a permanent pain of regret for not stopping the fight when he had the chance.

Jordan captures the personality of just non-stop passion that not only drives resilience but sparks conflict as well. He also displays the struggle of having to make it on his own without his mentor and without the help of the fame from his father. Jordan is every bit of Creed in being diligent, hardworking, and strong.

Stallone returns in his eighth film as Rocky Balboa and again was able to display the innocent, humble, and inspiring mentor that Balboa is. Through continuing this father-son bond with Creed, Balboa was able to not only redeem the mistake with Creed’s dad, but was able to live somewhat of a life with the son that he didn’t always have.

The film takes place in modern-day Philadelphia that hones in on both Balboa’s origins and Creed’s career beginning. Creed now has become the heavyweight boxing champion of the world and is only growing more popular influencing the move to somewhere more famously relevant location, Los Angeles. LA is also where the fight between Creed and Drago will take place but also home to newly engaged and new parents, Adonis Creed and Bianca.

The movie continues with two fights taking place between Creed and Ivan with the first fight not only having Balboa in his corner but it also leaves Creed hospitalized with multiple inner and outer injuries. At that point, Creed’s support team tries everything, again, trying to convince him to not continue with this fight. Creed’s maintenance of his title is the least of his worries as now it is and always has been personal because Drago is the descendant of Ivan Drago, the man who killed Apollo Creed in the ring 30 years ago.

To continue the plot that occurred 30 years ago, the viewer learns what happened once Drago lost the fight and how Russia reacted to that considering that Drago was the “hero” of the country at the time. The viewer may or may not be surprised by how they feel at the end of the film about Drago and his son; how this time, for both opponents, it was a personal and internal battle for the both of them.

The film ties the loose ends that fans have been slightly questioning following the results of “Rocky Ⅳ” and “Rocky Balboa”. In addition, if you’re a fan of Rocky or even “This Is Us,” an uplifting surprise is in store!

Creed Ⅱis an exceptional film that symbolizes the importance of family and the importance of being strong not only for those you care about, but being strong for yourself when you feel that you can no longer bring justice to your fight. The ending is a bit confusing because just because loose ties are being tightened, it doesn’t mean that there are tight ties being loosened, right?

In my opinion, “Creed “ has earned a 10 out of 10 knockouts. It depicted so clearly what it means to fall and fall, time and time again, still managing to get back up and fight the good fight. Fighting in order to prove something to yourself because the only person in the way of you achieving your goals is yourself. The film will leave you in tears regardless of your age or your gender.

If you’re a fan in any way of people striving for greatness and ultimately achieving it in more ways that one, be prepared to shed a few tears unashamedly.