Creed, 2016.
Directed by Ryan Coogler.
Starring Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashād and Tony Bellew.
SYNOPSIS:
Adonis Johnson, biological son of Apollo Creed wants to make it in the world of boxing. He seeks out Rocky Balboa to train him.
Rocky movies aren’t about how hard they hit, it’s about how many times they get hit and continue to make another.
Now that we have the cheesy opening line out the way we can get to whether Ryan Coogler’s Creed is just another run of the mill rehash of a once great series of movies or it’s the up from the canvas comeback I was hoping for (spoiler: firmly fits in the latter category).
The set up is predictably unpredictable. It’s all about getting to the montages and pearls of wisdom handed out by now restaurant owner, Rocky Balboa. You get enough of what is driving Adonis towards his decision to travel to Philadelphia and convince the legendary Italian Stallion to help him train.
In the spirit of the movie let’s get to crux, sadly no montages and a severe lack in the pearls of wisdom department from this point on. Ryan Coogler is on point for visuals and everything underneath. Nods toward the franchise are present but never overstated, camera ducks and dives throughout the well choreographed boxing fights. This points you front and centre of the punches thrown both psychically and emotionally. Nothing is more important to me in these movies than feeling that you’re a part of the action.
The main players here jump into their role and although, as mentioned in the movie Tessa Thompson character, Bianca did come close to being simply motivation for Adonis (an unfortunate matter considering Tessa Thompson’s talents) you get a sense that all are important. Well, not quite all. We have a couple of scenes where the less versed in acting make you shudder and you’ll instantly feel how terribly out of place these sequences look. That’s more a credit to the movie as a whole rather than a failing of casting.
Michael B. Jordan plays Adonis from the outside in. Giving you flashes of the man he is and the man he is trying to become. A product of his environment, uttering the name Creed is punishable by a stern look and more often than not, an outburst of anger. We follow him as he discovers his way inside and outside the ring, both are intriguing and both have a surprising amount of depth.
Now, with a Golden Globe under his belt (pardon the painfully obvious pun) and an Oscar nomination, Sly Stallone’s Rocky is a truthful portrayal of a humble man being humbled by time. It’s engrossing to watch but Oscar worthy, I’m not so sure. Not intending to take away from his performance, credit will also have to go to writers Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington for penning the screenplay.
Structured like the boxing matches it portrays, we feel out the people involved before launching into the action and although the occasional hit gets through to stop the films momentum, it ultimately goes on to finish victorious.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Gary McCurry
https://youtu.be/0aIsNl6XwEk?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published January 24, 2016. Updated April 14, 2018.
