Creed II [2018] [PG-13] – 3.6.4 (2024)

Why is “Creed II” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “sports action violence, language, and a scene of sensuality.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes an implied sex scene, a woman becoming pregnant, shirtless men and cleavage, boxing training and bout sequences with some blood and injuries, and some scatological terms. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

In this sequel to 2015’s Creed old enemies — a retired Russian boxer (Dolph Lundgren) and an American champion (Sylvester Stallone) — help their respective protégés (Florian Munteanu and Michael B. Jordon) train for the grudge match that will settle an old score. Also with Phylicia Rashad, Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris, Russell Hornsby and Andre Ward. Directed by Stephen Caple, Jr. Several lines of dialogue are spoken in Russian and Ukrainian with English subtitles as well as a few instances of American Sign Language with English subtitles. [Running Time: 2:10]

Creed II SEX/NUDITY 3

– A man and a woman kiss for several seconds (they are both clothed) and they lie on a bed where in a close-up in shadows, he removes his shirt to reveal his torso and we see that she has removed her top (we see a bra that reveals cleavage and abdomen); they kiss for several seconds and the scene ends (sex is implied).
►A woman takes a home pregnancy test and she says that she is pregnant (we see her standing with her fiancé in a bathroom with a test stick in her hand); we later see a sonogram and the woman’s large belly covered by clothing. A man kisses a woman’s pregnant, clothed belly four times.
►Several men in three gyms are shirtless during training. We see two close-ups of backs with muscles flexing. Two women wear long-sleeved leotards that reveal cleavage and bare thighs. In a close-up we see the cleavage of a woman walking past the camera.

Creed II VIOLENCE/GORE 6

- A boxing match of a few rounds shows many punches to the heads, faces and bodies; one man falls several times and gets back up (his eye eventually swells closed), his opponent smashes a fist into his ribs several times and the first man falls, screaming in pain and as he slowly gets back up the opponent knocks him out and onto his back, unconscious as the crowd cheers and a couple of women cry. A prolonged fight scene features parts of 10 rounds of a professional boxing bout and includes the loud smacking of several punches to the heads and bodies, two men grimacing and blood splattering and spraying; eyes are almost completely shut with each man falling down a few times and getting up slowly (a man spits saliva and blood into a bucket and another man uses a cotton swab to stop nose bleeding and we see a close-up of the bloody swab and some bloody gauze); two slow motion close-ups show each fighter's face moving past the lens after a punch (blood and saliva sprays), and a man falls at normal speed to the mat, face down, with blood spilling from his mouth onto the mat. A boxer punches his opponent in the ribs several times, dropping him to his knees, screaming in pain until he gets up and punches his opponent hard in the head and stomach many times, knocking him down three times (his face and eyes become increasingly raw and bloodied and his eyes are swollen); one fighter charges with a flurry of punches and the opponent's coach throws in a towel to end the match (we see blood on the towel).
►Several boxing ring scenes between men feature many hard, loud punches to the head, face and body with sweating and a little blood flow from noses and mouths and injured eyes that swell, as crowds cheer and chant a boxer's name. On a TV screen and a tablet screen, we see replays of fights in which one of two men falls unconscious onto his face or back, but we do not hear the punches land.
►A boxing training camp in a desert features men lifting truck tires and flipping them over, sparring and running; a man lifts weights attached to a wide leather strap with his head and neck, he pulls heavy objects attached to chains, he uses a sledge hammer to hammer a deep hole in the ground, he runs until he collapses on his face on a road and then gets up and continues to run, and he spars with an opponent as both men keep one foot inside a truck tire on the ground (we see and hear many punches and see a lot of grimacing and sweat). A man hangs by his hands from a bar while another man pounds him in the stomach with a sandbag and the first man grimaces. A man in a gym throws a medicine ball at a wall and catches it many times, he lifts weights and uses exercise machines. Two training scenes show a man punching another man's padded hands with many loud whacks. Several scenes feature a man hitting a hanging bag fast and hard multiple times and in one scene, he screams after punching the bag. A large gym features many boys and male teens punching hanging bags and speed bags beyond a glass wall (we cannot hear the punches). A man punches a hanging bag several times and screams in front of his infant, who is deaf and cannot hear him; she stares and he cries briefly.
►A coach of a boxer repeatedly orders, "Break him!" during a bout and another coach tells his boxer, "You like the pain. You can take the pain. You know why? Because you're dangerous." A boxer enters an arena and is met with loud boos and another boxer enters to loud cheering. When a woman shows up at a banquet, a man angrily stands up and slams his chair into a table, and stalks outside; another man also leaves angrily and argues with the first man outside. A younger man and an older man argue in a few scenes. Two other men argue mildly; one man says, "My son will break your boy," and the other man says, "Around here, we put strays down." A man tells another man, "That guy broke things in me that ain't never been fixed." An angry man slams two doors in his home and later he pushes a boxing coach and is restrained by two men as he shouts at the coach. A man on a sidewalk says, "He died right here in my hands." A man sits on a chair in a cemetery and talks to a headstone. A man stands in front of a headstone in a cemetery and talks to the deceased.
►A man in a hospital bed is shown from the shoulders up, his eye swollen shut and taped and he moans and jerks; another man enters, and they argue, the second man leaves, and the injured man cries as the scene ends. An injured man leaves a hospital in a wheelchair as photographers snap pictures and shout questions that he does not answer as he gets into a limo; at home, he limps slightly and we see him sit on the bottom of a swimming pool and scream (we hear a muffled scream and large air bubbles rise to the top). A man in a hospital bed is seen with two IV bags as a doctor tells a woman that the man suffered a concussion, two broken ribs, and a ruptured kidney. We see a man's knuckles are bleeding from training. A woman is partially deaf and uses hearing aids and her newborn baby receives a hearing test with sensors strapped to the face and head and the baby appears to be deaf (both parents cry briefly).
►A man walks to and stands before a toilet and the camera cuts to the toilet bowl and a bloody stream of urine which we see but don't hear as we see his grimacing face and the scene ends.

Creed II LANGUAGE 4

- 14 scatological terms, 3 mild obscenities, name-calling (crazy, smart guy, weird, monster, grimy, stupid), exclamations (shut-up), 1 religious exclamation (Thank God). | profanity glossary |

Creed II SUBSTANCE USE

- A man swallows an unidentified pill from a prescription vial, a man opens a pill bottle but takes no pills, and two pill bottles are seen on a sink. A small bottle of bourbon sits on the edge of a tombstone, a man and two women at a restaurant have a bottle of wine and three glasses (one woman takes a mouthful of wine and spits it back into the glass), men and women at a banquet drink champagne, and a man at home chugs a glass of champagne and drinks from the bottle with another glass of champagne shown on a table.

Creed II DISCUSSION TOPICS

- Masculinity, male vulnerability, meeting challenges, legacy, grudges, revenge, professional boxing, single mothers, absent fathers, parenting, deafness, murder, death, divorce, loss, grief, anger, relationships, love, respect, conflict, reconciliation.

Creed II MESSAGE

- Meeting a challenge should be about one's own growth, not for someone else's benefit. Family is more important than winning.

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.