Creed is the story of a young up and coming boxer who’s ambitious, angry but in serious need of a mentor, oh yeah, and just happens to be the youngest illegitimate son of former World Heavyweight Champion Apollo Creed. Not wishing to ride on the coattails of his father’s name, he seeks out his father’s former rival and friend Rocky “The Italian Stallion” Balboa. That’s right, this is a Rocky movie! And quite honestly, probably the best Rocky movie since the first one.
Look, for full disclosure, I should admit that I’m a massive Rocky fan, I enjoy all of them, even number five, well maybe not number five. Very few films can make me cry, the original Rocky film is one of those films. Every time Rocky screams out Adrian’s name at the end of the film after getting the Hell beaten out of himself just gives me watery eyes and a lump in my throat. This new film will also make you shed a tear on more than one occasion and for very different reasons.
There are so many good things about this film. Yes, it is a Rocky film, but it is a modern day Rocky film that uses many of the Rocky templates but is not a slave to these templates. We have some really creative camera work, particularly in the boxing scenes; the camera always floats over one of the boxer’s shoulders which really brings you into the ring. The editing cuts effortlessly to small intimate details of a scene to really paint a picture from the set up of a fight to the conversations two lovers can have together. The lighting dips in and out to draw attention during intense scenes to highlight the character’s focus during a fight.
The narrative has a much more human approach than you’d expect in the Rocky film series. They’re not afraid to touch on the darker implications of life as a boxer, there is far more humility in this film, the kind of humility that hasn’t been seen since the first two Rocky movies. The characters in this film are far more human with genuine motivations and relationships that go past the motivations of previous Rocky films such as “I must break you” or “respect”. As a matter of fact, the motivation for Creed is revealed in the final fight of the film and it’s a real punch in the gut which makes the final fight all the more meaningful.
But let’s focus on the two leads: Michael B Jordan is charming and likable, he’s has a remarkable likeness to Carl Weathers and has worked hard to get in shape for this film. He is in many ways the new and improved Rocky. However Sylvester Stallone is the surprising talking point of the film. This is Rocky at his most humble, gone is the vanity that often hindered the other Rocky movies as we finally see a broken down and retired Rocky Balboa. Many have been suggesting that Stallone could be up for an Oscar nomination and to be honest, I would be shocked if he wasn’t nominated. This is the best version of Rocky we have seen since the very first Rocky movie, the emotion is there on his face and is real - from when he talks about his son to when he receives some devastating news.
Ultimately, Creed is a solid film that lives within the world of Rocky but still stands on its own two feet. In many ways it’s like an indie film that just happens to exist in the Rocky universe. This film work for Rocky fans and is still accessible for people new to the Rocky franchise.
Creed gets Four and a Half Stars (or Four and a Half guitar solos on a mountain top)
* Disclaimer: Yes I know that the Scott Stapp Creed review is a Funny or Die sketch.
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