Finally, the long-awaited sequel you’ve been waiting for…a new Rocky movie! Oh wait, you thought I would review Star Wars huh?
Anyway, this is the definition of a movie that turned out to be a lot better than I thought it would be, and I can see why critics were so surprised.
What Works: The performances are uniformly strong, but particularly by Michael B. Jordan (as the illegitimate son of Apollo Creed), Tessa Thompson as his nearly-deaf girlfriend, and Sylvester Stallone as the aging icon himself who is stirring up deserved Best Supporting Actor talk. The contrast between Jordan’s raging bull and Stallone’s depressed, wisened Italian Stallone makes this the most character-driven “Rocky” film since the original.
This may also be the first time I’ve seen a boxing movie with a fictional black boxer as the central hero, rather than just an antagonist for the main character to overcome.
Every “Rocky” movie has a different style for depicting its fight scenes. [You can almost see the gritty, exciting 70’s turning into the tacky, “feel good” 80’s in “Rocky III” where the grainy fights of the first Rocky film are replaced with hyper-real bouts with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.] And even though I personally prefer the ultra-realistic fight in “Rocky Balboa,” “Creed” succeeds with a fight style that would make Alfonso Cuaron proud like a terrific mid-film fight that is shot in one long tracking shot.
What Doesn’t: In my opinion, the first “Rocky” is the greatest sports film ever made, and it’s easy to forget that it was actually more a downbeat character study of “losers” (a painfully shy pet store spinster and a sometimes-pitiful bruiser) than a true sports movie. “Rocky”‘s central emotion is actually the depression that comes from not living up to your potential and that’s a rare, interesting theme for a sports movie to take on. Well “Creed”‘s central emotion is probably closer to anger, and Adonis is fighting for his own legitimacy more than anything. But it’s a little harder to cheer on a guy throwing away opportunities to pursue boxing–he quits a high-paying job in finance and moves out of a mansion–than it was to appreciate Balboa’s original “last chance,” now-or-never opportunity. Early on, I actually thought Adonis was making a mistake to pursue boxing, and that somewhat lessens the enjoyment of seeing him go for it.
And “Creed,” might be accused of trying to do too much as at one point or another as it’s a boxing movie, a “find yourself” movie, a “legitimize yourself” movie, a cancer-survivor story, a romance, a trip to England, a musical performance in a club or two, and an unintentionally funny scene where Adonis is running beside motor-scooters. After a while, it feels a little over-stuffed.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Sure, you could cut out a couple scenes or whole subplots, and maybe narrowed the focus more on Adonis’ anger so we could explore that deeper, but this is still the best sports movie in a good long while, and perhaps since the last Rocky movie nearly a decade ago. It deserves the attention its getting and any awards its considered for.