REVIEW: Creed

The good news about Creed is that if there were people wondering if a Rocky spin off would end up turning into a story about Rocky Balboa getting back into the ring 'one last time,' your worries are unjustified.  The story truly focuses on the tale of the illegitimate child of Apollo Creed, the man who died in the ring at the hands of the vicious Ivan Drago and who challenged and then mentored Balboa.

The young and talented actor Michael B. Jordan plays the role of Adonis Johnson, the up and coming boxer who wants to carve his own path and does not want to make it based solely on the name of his father.  The secret cannot stay hidden forever, and the moment it comes out it is the wet dream of the manager for the soon to be jailed light heavyweight champion "Pretty" Ricky Conlan, played by boxer Tony Bellew.  This is not the first time in the Rocky franchise that the choice to have professional boxers in the cast, and it pays off well as Bellew is able to adequately be the villain that is needed to our hero to face and overcome.

But is the movie really about beating someone and becoming the champion?  Absolutely not.  The movie is a character story, with boxing just being the means for which our protagonist develops and learns about himself.  Michael B. Jordan flexes (pun kind of intended, I guess) his talents as he adds an enormous amount of depth to his character, with the solid script from director Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington making for an intriguing story with an emotional character arc.

One of the best things about this film, outside of the action in the ring, that is, is the chemistry between Jordan and Sylvester Stallone who returns to play the legendary role of the Italian Stallion, Rocky Balboa.  He is a supporting character this time around, and he hits into it more naturally than any of the films since Rocky.  He is written not as a one dimensional character, and he proves to audiences once more that he can act with the right script and the right director.  There are a lot of very touching and emotional scenes between the aging boxer and the new blood who just wants to prove to himself that he is the best.

The directing of Ryan Coogler is one of the main take aways from this film.  Creed is completely stylistically different than his only other feature film, Fruitvale Station, but from what you see on the screen you would think that he had done this kind of film many times before.  He shows a mastery of using dialogue, cinematography, and score to allow the emotions of the film to ebb and flow along with the story.

The action in the film feels like first nature to Coogler.  One of the boxing matches shows incredible ambition and talent as it is made to feel like one continuous shot through out the entire battle, with the camera weaving around the action in the ring and following the boxers to their corners between rounds.  This is the incredible work of cinematographer Maryse Alberti, who also showed an skillful eye in this year's The Visit.  There may not be any talk of her being up for an Oscar for this role, but that boxing sequence alone demands that people give her respect.

Everything with this film comes together to bring audiences a fun, emotion-fueled boxing movie about an underdog working to over come.  It is not just about winning, but about knowing who you are, and what it is that you are fighting for in life.  There is just too much entertainment and talent shown in this movie to not enthusiastically recommend it.

Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars