A surprisingly impressive reboo

Rating: 7/10 (13 April 2020)

Considering I never particularly liked the original Rocky movies, I was not expecting much from this latest offering. It sounded like a truly terrible idea, especially as 2006's Rocky Balboa had provided a very satisfactory ending to the series. I chose to watch it more out of morbid curiosity than anything else and I was fully expecting to hate it. As it happens, it's actually pretty impressive. The production is excellent, the acting is superior to the originals and the fight scenes are visually spectacular and well-choreographed. The shot of Creed hitting the deck in slow-motion in the final fight is an amazing piece of cinematography. Ryan Coogler does a great job with the writing and it makes you wonder how much better the original sequels could have been had Stallone allowed someone else to take over the screenplay.
Stallone gives probably his best performance across all the Rocky films (and maybe his career), thriving in his role as a lonely bereaved restaurant manager. His gentle handling of the cancer storyline was exceptional, culminating in an incredibly moving final scene where he scales the famous Philadelphia steps at walking pace.
I was very sceptical of Tony Bellew being offered a role in this film, but he gives a surprisingly strong performance. Admittedly, he is only really playing himself and he's used to the cameras, but It's still an achievement to translate it to the big screen so well. I was less impressed by Michael B. Jordan however, who I felt was wooden and monotonous throughout.
In fact, the whole Adonis Creed character was a bit of a let-down. A kid who spent his early days in foster care, has never known his parents and who possesses the physical and psychological traits of Apollo Creed has the potential to be a mesmerising lead character. The development of Adonis could and should have been the essence of this movie. We could have seen a fiercely emotional tortured soul, finding meaning and purpose in sport. Instead, he was nothing more than a forgettable walking cliché. His relationship with Bianca was also very drab and it wasn't helped by Tessa Thompson's tepid performance.
I was still very impressed with Creed and would recommend it. It's just a shame more work wasn't put into creating a stronger lead character.