The first question that a person might ask when deciding to see Ryan Coogler’s (Fruitvale Station) Creed could be, “Do I need to have seen all of the Rocky franchises to really like this movie?” The answer to that question is no, but I think you’ll definitely enjoy the movie if you are familiar with movies I through IV. There are lots of references to the relationship between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed. While this movie is fine as a standalone, it, most likely, is much more fulfilling if you understand some of these references. Creed might be the surprise movie of 2015. I, for one, couldn’t believe what I saw when I first saw the preview. It certainly did not help my current belief that Hollywood is, and has been, for many years, void of original ideas. After seeing the preview, I tried to count the number of Rocky movies that shouldn’t have been made. The list was short. It included Rocky V and Balboa, but I was already willing to stick Creed with that group. While it’s not a great movie, it is a good movie. I think all of the potential Academy Award buzz with the movie is a little ridiculous (Indiewire currently has it as one of its 10 best movies of the year? Please). I will be honest that I’m a sucker for a good boxing movie. 2015 has two really good boxing movies. In addition to Creed, Southpaw, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, was one of the best movies of the summer and, at the moment, is still in my Top Ten for 2015. Younger audiences and big fans of the franchise should see Creed. However, if you are looking for a darker, more meaningful movie, I would definitely recommend watching Southpaw instead.
While Creed is not a Sylvester Stallone (Rambo, Cliffhanger) driven movie, he is a much bigger part of it than I expected. I think I based this entirely on the trailer. Stallone didn’t make an appearance on the initial trailer until it was well over halfway through. I really thought he would be nothing more than a side character. I felt if he made anything more than a cameo that he would ruin the movie. Until yesterday, I believed that Stallone was completely done as being any relevant actor in any movie that was expected to be taken seriously. Sure he can do his Expendables and his Rambos and team up with Arnold Schwarzenegger for movies like Escape Plan. He could join forces with Robert De Niro for a movie like Grudge Match, where both men make complete mockeries of themselves. But in terms of a movie that is supposed to be taken seriously and stars Stallone? Well, I didn’t think those two things would ever happen again. With that said, I’ve got to give the man credit. He went back to his roots and took a character that achieved extreme fame over the course of the franchise and truly humanized him. It looks like Stallone has a great chance to get a Best Supporting Actor nomination. For me, it’s too early to tell if his performance was one of the best five. I can already think of a couple of performances in 2015 that are better than his. But for some reason, I think he’ll get the sentimental vote and receive a nomination. I won’t be disappointed if he does. I would have an issue with him winning it, though. There are still many movies to see between now and when the nominations are revealed, though, so we’ll see.
Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station, NBC’s Friday Night Lights) continues to show why he can be the lead actor of a quality movie. He reunites with Coogler, who directed him in Fruitvale Station. In fact, Coogler only has two movies under his belt, and they both star Jordan. He could probably make a career of casting Jordan as his lead because he is a solid 2 for 2. If you haven’t seen Fruitvale Station yet, I would recommend you do so. It was the best movie of 2013 that I did not write a review for. As good as Jordan was as Creed, I don’t think his performance was nearly as awesome as his portrayal of Oscar Grant in Fruitvale. Ironically, I have not watched the Friday Night Lights series. I know I need to, and as the years slip by when the show wrapped up, I worry the less relevant it will be to me. My reason for not watching the show was because I didn’t want it to taint the movie. The movie Friday Night Lights is in my Top 15 of All-Time, if not my Top 10.
While I enjoyed this film, I’m not entirely certain what the point of this movie was (other than the obvious of tying it to the Rocky franchise and pretty much guaranteeing it a hefty payday at the box office). Nonetheless, when you combine Coogler and Jordan, you are bound to get a quality movie. Both of these men are set to prove that Fruitvale Station wasn’t a fluke. But still, what was the point? Why was there a need to tell the story of Apollo Creed’s son? The movie didn’t really answer that question until the end, and even then, the explanation didn’t satisfy me. We meet Adonis Johnson (aka Creed) at a very early age. He’s in a juvenile correctional facility. The year is 1998, and Adonis is maybe 8 or 9 years old. He’s a nice kid but “likes to fight.” He has been in and out of foster homes and has met with various social workers, yet here he remains. We then meet Mary Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad – television’s The Cosby Show), who was the wife of Adonis’s father. Apollo cheated on Mary Anne with Adonis’s late mother. Mary Anne owes nothing to Adonis yet agrees to take him in and raise him as her own. Fast forward about 17 years, and Adonis is semi-professional, having unsanctioned matches in Tijuana at night while working an office job during the day. He has a record of 15-0 and hasn’t really been tested. The day job is not for him, though, and he quits, much to the disapproval of Mary Anne. Herein lies the first thing we ponder in most boxing movies or even boxing or fighting in general. Most boxers, UFC fighters, etc., fight out of necessity. It’s a way to make a living when maybe they don’t have the skills or opportunities others have. Adonis has a job that pays well. He drives a nice car. He lives in a huge house with a gated fence (granted, Mary Anne). But he’s willing to give it all up to go to Philadelphia and get trained by Rocky. Again, what’s the point of this?
But if you are going to have a boxing movie, you might as well make it good. This isn’t really that different than any of the Rocky movies, except that the acting is much better. The in-ring boxing sequences are great, but I felt the in-ring sequences from the other Rocky movies were great too. The story of Adonis trying to influence Rocky to train him was predictable (heck, it’s the same plotline of the last five boxing movies I’ve seen). There are a couple of small twists along the way. It can be hard to differentiate these boxing movies from one another (especially the final fight). So while the movie is entertaining and will keep your mind from drifting from your real problems of the world, at the end of the day, as good or as bad as this movie is, what’s the point? This movie entertained me and will encourage me to see both Jordan and Coogler movies in the future. Still, this movie won’t stick with me a month when I’m busy watching (hopefully) quality and more original movies like Joy, The Danish Girl, Carol, In the Heart of the Sea, The Revenant, Star Wars, and others. I’m glad I saw it and glad I was able to get this review out. Still, I’m also am glad to be done writing a review that I really had no interest in writing and only did so because of its positive reviews and outside opportunities of maybe getting some Oscar recognition.
See Southpaw unless you’ve got kids and want to see a movie with them or if you are a die-hard fan of the Rocky franchise.
Plot 8/10 (is it predictable? Yes, it is)
Character Development 9/10
Character Chemistry 8.5/10
Acting 9/10 (well above average…Michael B. Jordan is the real deal…Stallone’s best performance in 20 years)
Screenplay 7.5/10 (nothing overly impressive here…)
Directing 7.5/10 (see above…Coogler is no dark horse in this field)
Cinematography 8.5/10
Sound 9/10 (the music is great…I did think they’d be able to avoid the Rocky music entirely, but for whatever reason, it had a brief appearance in the final match)
Hook and Reel 9.5/10 (always fun…but then again, a good boxing movie always seems to have the ability to hook me)
Universal Relevance 7/10 (trying to live up to someone else’s shadow, I guess…all that Jazz…I am still not convinced that he ever legitimized his reasons for even getting in the ring…this movie is a money cog more than anything, though)
83.5%
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