Creed Review
PG13: Violence, Language and Some Sensuality
MGM, Warner Bros Pictures, New Line Cinema
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, with Andre Ward, and Tony Bellew
Editor’s Note: This review was originally published during my adolescence. Outdated language might be seen in these old posts. Since then, my thoughts and values have grown. This review is being presented as they were originally written, grammatical errors and typos and all. Because to do otherwise would be that same as claiming these flaws has never existed.
STORYLINE: Adonis Johnson is the son of the famous boxing champion Apollo Creed, Who died in a boxing match in Rocky IV. Adonis wasn't born before his fathers death and wants to follow his fathers footsteps in boxing. He seeks a mentor who is the former heavyweight boxing champion and former friend of Apollo Creed, Rocky Balboa who is now in retirement. Rocky then agrees to mentor Adonis. With Rocky's help they hope to get a title job to face even deadlier opponents than his father. But whether he is a true fighter is to be seen....
REVIEW: In 2013 after the success of Fruitvale Station (the movie that broke me, my dad, mom, pretty much my entire family) it was announced that director Ryan Coogler and actor Michael B. Jordan would both be collaborating in a new spinoff in the Rocky franchise. See you already probably know this, but what you didn't know is that recently [more specifically this year alone] we had a plenty of directors who got lucky with a successful micro budgeted/critically praised film only to move onto big budgeted franchise films that end up being a gigantic piece of shit. The most notable one was Josh Trank for Fantastic Four this year and everyone was worried for this. But by God did Ryan Coogler deliver not only one of the best Rocky films since #2, or the best boxing film since Cinderella Man, but most importantly he directed one of the best films I've seen this year. What I see Coogler accomplishing as a director and a screenwriter in his filmography is being able to pack genuine emotion from his leads and their characters. With Creed, Coogler deconstructs the formula of the first Rocky film and develop new technical elements to the franchise, create an elaborate new underdog story, and multiplies the emotional drama by two. With this story you get why Adonis doesn't want to accept his Creed name and when you learn in the captivating intro of the film and you don't blame him. The moment the film really picks up [not that it never disinterests you] is when Rocky appears onscreen. There both Jordan and Stallone share a chemistry that is like a father and son relationship. We know Rocky as an iconic character so when the emotional beats come in the story and even in Stallone's dialogue, you tear up. When Tessa Thompson appears as well the romance shared between her character and Jordan's is cute and genuine. What I'm really getting to is that this film is very human. This is really much a huge reason why I didn't like Southpaw. That film was more of an Oscar bait boxer film that hits all the points that a formulaic boxer film does. This does the same, but at the same time does something new. When each boxer is introduced the frame freezes and give them a title card like you're choosing a character in a video game. In the boxing scenes you get very raw sequences with a scene all filmed in one shot and another sequence you are entering the ring as if you are an audience member. Even in the training montages you get great imagery and cinematography that is both urban and cool. The film is very lengthy, but here the running time is needed because there is a lot of story to cover. The film hits all the right points it needs to without sacrificing the directing style. Even when you get to the end, Stallone subtly passes on the torch of his franchise to Coogler and Jordan and there is a feel of success when you get there.
LAST STATEMENT: A hard hitting contemporary and urban reinvention of a beloved and iconic franchise formula with both style and humanlike emotional drama makes Creed not only an incredible spinoff to Rocky but a great standalone film that is a complete knockout.
Rating: 5/5 | 98%
Super Scene: "If you fight, I fight" | Montage #2 | "Lord Knows/Fighting Stronger" - I didn't know which title to use to describe the scene so I used all three.
