"Creed" - Passing the torch

Rating: 9/10 (4 September 2016)

2015's Ryan Coogler-directed "Creed" is a worthy successor to the legendary "Rocky" sports-drama film series. Like the overall message of the film, it's competently acted and directed well enough that it will surely build its own legacy in time. (I just found out that a sequel is already tentatively set for next year, in the Fall of 2017.)
I had remember hearing a few years after the release of "Rocky Balboa" (2006) that a sequel was in the works, and it turned out the next "Rocky" film would not only be a sequel, but a spin-off, of that legendary film franchise.
"Creed" centers around Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan), the illegitimate son of famed boxer Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), who was killed in a boxing match by Soviet fighter Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) in "Rocky IV" (1985). Adonis never knew his legendary father, and had lived much of his early life not knowing of the great legacy - and potential greatness - that awaited him. He learns of his legacy when Creed's widow Mary Ann Creed (Phylicia Rashad) gets him released from a juvenile detention center when he's a young teenager.
Years later as an adult and talented underground fighter, he then figures that he's ready for his shot at the title. So he quits his job in Los Angeles and heads to Philadelphia to track down his father's rival-turned-close friend Rocky Balboa (Best Supporting Actor-nominee Sylvester Stallone, who rightfully hands over the porch to his much-younger co-star). The aging Balboa is long past his glory days in the ring and has outlived both his wife Adrian (Talia Shire) and best friend Paulie (Burt Young), but reluctantly agrees to train the young Adonis for a title shot against the current undefeated champion, "Pretty" Ricky Conlan (real-life boxer Tony Bellew), an English boxer who stands at 36-0 and has a number of significant physical advantages over the younger Creed.
"Creed" is an excellent film, no question about it. It's a film that got a lot of praise, but was significantly overlooked by the Academy Awards, in my opinion, but let's not get into that. The film is stunningly well-acted and directed. Michael B. Jordan may have just found his signature role in this film. His star has been steadily rising over the years and this may be the film to carry him over the top. He obviously put in a lot of work to get himself into top physical fighting form to be able to carry this film and it shows - he does not disappoint. He knew he that, just like his character in the film, he had a phenomenal legacy to live up to, and he does. His training scenes with Stallone are reminiscent of the training scenes between Stallone and the late Burgess Meredith in the earlier "Rocky" series; and there's also a great supporting character in Johnson's love interest, Bianca (Tessa Thompson), a talented nightclub singer who's progressively losing her hearing.
Ryan Coogler - who first broke out on the movie scene with "Fruitvale Station" (2013), which Jordan also starred in, and who also co-wrote the screenplay to "Creed" with Aaron Covington (while sharing a sole story credit) - is another rising star in Hollywood. He certainly has the makings of a young director with a bright future ahead of him; if anyone was to make a movie centering around the character of Apollo Creed (or, more specifically, his descendants), than Coogler was certainly the right choice for the job.
It would be unfair to chide this film for repeating many of the same plot devices that made "Rocky" (1976) such a brilliant underdog story 40 years ago, and whose influence in popular culture is still being felt to this day. That is why we now have "Creed" to carry on the torch.
9/10