Just another boxing film

Rating: 7/10 (16 February 2016)

I was never a fan of Rocky (I've only seen the first one and I did not think it was a classic by any stretch of the imagination) and I do not like sports films nor boxing films in particular. Many though have received high praise, but to me it always seems to be the same film. The difference is made by the actors and how much empathy they can get you to feel for their character and their plight. Now Creed will mean most to people who remember Rocky and the Rocky franchise films fondly. It will be a trip down nostalgia lane seeing their childhood hero has become and old man and the son of Apollo Creed rise by the aid of Rocky. But for someone like me, who looks at it as just another boxing film it doesn't have to offer much special. The story in itself is as cliché and straightforward as they come and the acting is very good but nothing worthy of an Oscar. This film is no Shawshank redemption ladies and gents. I watched it to see if it could live up to the Oscar hype, otherwise I would have just ignored it. Should Stallone get an Oscar for this: for me, no. Should Michael B. Jordan get an Oscar for this: no, too soon. For a better role than this maybe, yes.