Creed (2015)

Director: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Michael B Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson

Synopsis:
The illegitimate son of Apollo Creed travels to Philadelphia to train under Rocky Balboa and become a professional boxer.

Impressions:
The premise of this film had my interest, but I didn't go out of my way to see it right out of the gate, but that's true of any entry in the Rocky franchise. We've seen a number of reboots/new generation efforts in recent years and a lot of them have fallen flat. This is a good example of how it's done right. You respect the pedigree but don't let yourself get chained down by it. You let the original characters shine without overshadowing the new ones, who you make compelling enough to hold their own weight. This film probably saved Michael B Jordan's acting career after the disastrous Fantastic Four reboot and I'm sure his castmates wish they could've been afforded a similar opportunity. He's good as Adonis Johnson/Creed. I like that they give a lot of appealing aspects to his character yet still have the negative ones that create a lot of the conflict (without losing the audience's sympathy). He's got good chemistry with Stallone and with love interest Bianca (Tessa Thompson), which pretty well make the film. I thought Tony Bellew was good as antagonist Pretty Ricky. I've commented in my other Rocky reviews how the films tend to nicely encapsulate the era in which they take place and that's true here as well, particularly in the slicky (over)produced HBO Sports spots. I also like how a lot of boxers are introduced with a record card. It's a neat gimmick. Really, on all fronts, there's not much I can think to fault this film on. I know a lot of people thought Rocky Balboa was the perfect send-off to the franchise, but if you give this film a chance, you're bound to agree that we've got the makings of a new franchise here and I'm rather eager to see what they do with the sequel. Give it a watch at the very least, but I'd say this is worth a spot in your collection.

Rating:
Own It