Stallone's best performance in years punctuates a fantastically-written, character-driven experience.

Rating: 8/10 (2 December 2018)

Much of the success of 'Creed (2015)' rests on the success, the unexpected yet absolute success, of Stallone's performance as the Rocky character (perhaps his best to date), who's here presented as a regular guy (who used to be a boxer) struggling to find the will to fight (metaphorically) in a world where his friends, family and 'normal' life are essentially all gone. Here, he's been placed in a fantastically-written mentor role - a genius move which has injected life into a franchise that, by all rights, ought to have been long since laid to rest; it's a joy pretty much every moment he's on screen, which can range from the surprisingly sweet to the expertly emotional. The strength of this character and performance doesn't discount anyone else, however, as the overall experience is a well-paced and thematically rich one that's essentially all one long training montage yet does so much in terms of character on the part of pretty much everyone involved. It also ties in the old with the new in extremely clever, heart-string-tugging ways. It's hard not to be moved, at least to some level, and it's practically impossible not to be entertained. 8/10