I liked — but failed to love, adore, embrace or foolishly trumpet “Creed” as “an Oscar contender.” Might be why I’m only getting a screening of “Creed II” the night before it opens.

So that put me in the minority of critics reviewing it. Not a wholehearted pan, but a “Rocky” reboot with MUCH BETTER LOOKING stars and zero and I mean ZERO street grit, poverty?

Meh. Not overwhelmed with the “long take” intro to the Big Fight shot, not thrilled with the boxing stuff in general in the first film.

The sequel has a different director, Steven Caple Jr. “The Land” is his indie skateboarding drama that served as a calling card for landing this gig.

Will it be better, or a par, or a chance for fawning critics to walk back their pants-wetting over “Creed?” We shall see.