Good, solid, but by the book inside and out...

Rating: 7/10 (1 April 2016)

Creed (2015)
I went into this expecting too much, for sure, but if you do the same, you'll still be happy to see a solid boxing movie. The clichés are huge, of course, on purpose, including lots of mentions (and movie clips) of the earlier Rocky movies.
In that sense, this is a movie for people who loved the original (and to some extent the earlier sequels). It's a feelgood followup without a completely predictable ending. As the son of Apollo Creed (remember him?) turns to boxing instead of a lucrative business career (really?) we have an echo of that first Italian Stallion rising up from nowhere to challenge the best of his times.
With no disrespect to the leading actor, Michael B. Jordan, the character lacks the quirky depth and pathos of the original slightly dumb-seeming but ultra sweet role that Stallone created (he wrote it) in "Rocky." And so Jordan, the ex-banker, has none of the rising from the depths of poverty and loneliness that the original Rocky had. They try to give him some backstory with lots of fighting as a kid, but it's just story, not emotional depth.
And so the rest of the movie follows suit. We like the guy (Adonis Creed) and want him to win. But we like even more Stallone himself, who ends up being once again the start of the movie—and with a large role. He's officially a supporting actor, but he's in it top to bottom and with real depth to his character.
Some of what keeps this being a good solid but unexceptional boxing story is the writing (Ryan Coogler) and the directing (Ryan Coogler). The plot and the technicals of directing are all straight from the book—predictable, but professional. The fight scenes themselves are among the best of the movie— emotionally and physically convincing. And watch Stallone all along, who is pretty terrific.
Yeah, you might want all these clichés, but heads up—they aren't enough for a truly great movie, which this is sometimes promoted to be.