Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) never knew his famous father, world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, who died before he was born. Still, there’s no denying that boxing is in his blood, so Adonis heads to Philadelphia, the site of Apollo Creed’s legendary match with a tough upstart named Rocky Balboa. Once in the City of Brotherly Love, Adonis tracks Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) down and asks him to be his trainer. Despite his insistence that he is out of the fight game for good, Rocky sees in Adonis the strength and determination he had known in Apollo—the fierce rival who became his closest friend. Agreeing to take him on, Rocky trains the young fighter, even as the former champ is battling an opponent more deadly than any he faced in the ring. With Rocky in his corner, it isn’t long before Adonis gets his own shot at the title...but can he develop not only the drive but also the heart of a true fighter, in time to get into the ring?
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Michael B. Jordan, Tessa
Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Ritchie Coster
Release Date: Nov
25, 2015
Rated PG-13 Violence, Some Sensuality and Language
Runtime: 2 hr. 13 min.
Genres: Drama
Review:
Ryan Coogler’s Creed is one of the rare sports films that
works for an actual sports fan. It’s
structure is very similar to the past Rocky movies and there isn’t much
surprise about what goes down during it’s somewhat extended runtime. Still it works on various levels because of
some excellent direction and strong performances from Michael B. Jordan and
Sylvester Stallone. Coogler pulls off an
effective redux of the original Rocky story that’s engaging enough to keep
everyone engaged throughout. It’s clear
that Coogler is a big fan of the original film and it come through the
screen. Michael B. Jordan is focused and
believable as the upcoming boxing trying to make a name for himself. The real surprise though is Stallone who
delivers one of his best performances in years.
It’s been so long since Stallone has fallen into a parody of himself
that it’s easy to forget that he was a capable actor at one point. Stallone’s work is heartfelt and
reflective. He and Jordan share some
solid chemistry together making it easy to care about their journey. Creed isn’t a perfect film though. The structure is very well worn and
characters seem to appear and disappear regularly with Phylicia Rashad left
acting alone reacting to a TV. Its far
from a fatal flaw but it does feel like a missed opportunity to expand on
certain relationships and characters. As
a boxing fan, nothing takes me out of a film quicker than staged fights that
instantly feel inauthentic. It’s a
difficult thing to pull off because of the nature of the sport but Creed does
an excellent job of pulling off the illusion for the most part, there’s rarely
that much chatting between rounds from the fighters. As a whole though, Creed finds the essence of
the original film which isn’t a small feat considering this is 7th
entry in the long running franchise.
B
