Creed Review

Creed

"A great fighter once said: 'It ain't about how hard you can hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward'"  -Adonis quoting Rocky Balboa

  The dramatic sport film Creed is directed by Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station) and stars Micahel B. Jordan as Adonis Johnson Creed, Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, Tessa Thompson as Bianca, Tony Bellew as 'Pretty' Ricky Conlan, and Phylicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed.

^Get ready to get pumped up!^

  In Creed, Adonis Johnson had struggled with life and his emotions resulting in him going in and out of a juvenile detention center, until one day a woman takes him into her home. It turns out that she is Mary Anne Creed, wife of the deceased world championship boxer Apollo Creed. Adonis is the illegitimate child of Apollo Creed when he had an affair with a woman. Adonis grows up with a good home and a good mother in Los Angeles. He still, however, has an affinity for fighting and goes to underground boxing rings to fight for money. He eventually, against his mom's wishes, has enough of his boring regular job and quits because he goes to Philadelphia to see Apollo Creed's old friend and ex-boxer Rocky Balboa. To make a legacy out of his own name, Adonis hides his name under his original last name Johnson. After his first fight, word gets out that he is Apollo Creed's son and the #1 pound-by-pound boxer in the world, 'Pretty' Ricky Conlan, challenges him to a fight to be viewed around the world. He accepts, but is nervous. With many inspirational moments from the people around him and especially Rocky himself, Adonis goes into the ring making an epic fight with Conlan.

 ^That's real fighting. Michael B. Jordan actually got hit pretty hard. Wow.^

  When I saw the first trailer for Creed, I was so pumped to know that I would get to see Rocky again. Not only that, but I would get to see Apollo Creed's son fight. So after some time, I got worried that Creed would bomb and not live up to the hype and to the name of the Rocky franchise. I was so relieved and totally ecstatic after the film to know that Creed was a fantastic film. It wasn't just a great add-on to the Rocky franchise, but it was a great overall film.

 ^Yeah Adonis! Pound those haters into the ground!^

  I mentioned that Michael B. Jordan really did learn how to box and did so in the film. Those moments of intense boxing, and another aspect that I'll go into in a bit, really made the film for me. The first professional fight that Adonis is a part of was filmed in what looked like one long tracking shot, which were used in abundance throughout the first half of the film. It was absolutely beautiful. The hits felt real. The blood looked real. The fierceness seemed real. I loved this fight. Although there would be another at the end, Adonis' first fight was the most immersive. This is not a flaw with the end fight, but in terms of which was better, the first one was and I wish it was the other way around.

 ^When you watch this scene, pay attention to the faces of both Adonis and his opponent. They're getting hit hard.^

  Now into my favorite ingredient that made Creed spectacular: Sylvester Stallone. Oh my goodness. I honestly didn't expect a performance like the one he gave. Stallone showed that he still has the acting chops that he once had in his earlier days. The emotional points in the film were almost all directed towards him. There was one moment where Stallone's Rocky Balboa was sitting in a chair in front of two tombstones (Paulie's and Adrian's). He was casually talking to them about how things are going. It was clear that he'd been going to the tombstones for a while since he said to them while pulling out a newspaper, "Let's see whats going on in the world today." Although this may not seem like an emotional and heartwrenching moment (probably because of the way I'm describing it), these two people laying in the ground were very close and important to Rocky. To be honest, seeing him casually talk to them as if they were still alive got me to cry a little. 

 ^Damn Rocky. Through ups and downs, you're still a trooper. An admirable character in all of cinema.^

  Still, even with Stallone's performance, Creed felt a little cheesy at moments. I understand that this is supposed to be an inspirational film and it's supposed to pump you up, but there were parts where I said to myself, "Oh. Yeah. That's kind of clichéd." There was a scene during the middle of the film that had Rocky being more prominent to Adonis' strive towards success. The reason for the importance to Adonis was a little unnecessary. This could've been done this on other ways where this maybe didn't impact Rocky's life permanently (and perhaps the future of the franchise?). Then again, I feel I'm nitpicking too much.   

 ^Yeah! Go Team Creed!^

   I'm on the fence of this being a complete Rocky rehash or not because Creed is, in many ways, a rehash of the first movie in the franchise, but it also stands out as being one of the best in the franchise. It is a great film overall and there's no denying that, but I can't stop comparing many of the original dynamics in story to Creed. It's not original. It is, however, fantastic. One of the influences from the original Rocky that is clearly seen and felt in Creed is the electrifying journey that Adonis goes through. It is inspiring and most definitely epic. The musical score and the inspirational lines absolutely helped bring me to my maximum energized level.

 ^"You see this guy here? That's the toughest opponent you're ever going to have to face. I believe that's true in the ring and I believe that's true in life."^

  Creed sticks out in recent sports films as being a magnificent welcome home present from possibly the greatest sports film franchise of all time. The little lack in creativity that Creed had was totally made up for with execution. I had a blast with this film. I might just take up boxing lessons now.

Pro

• The fights!
• Sylvester Stallone's emotional performance was shockingly great
• Inspirational (it's the eye of the tiger...)
• Score was epic

Con

• Rehashing of old storylines
• Sometimes cheesy 

4.6/5

Creed is rated PG-13 for violence, language, and some sensuality

Watch the trailer here 

Creed is in theaters everywhere now

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