Solid

Rating: Null/10 (25 January 2018)

Sylvester Stallone returns as Rocky Balboa in this seventh installment of the Rocky franchise. Taking place sometime after the events of Rocky Balboa, the movie focuses on the character of Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), the illegitimate son of Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), Rocky's original ultimate foe. Adonis is trying to become a boxer just like his father and recruits Rocky as a trainer in the ultimate bid for championship.
Creed is an excellent example on how being formulaic is not necessarily a bad thing. The story in this film is textbook perfect sports film story. It's quintessentially Rocky in a way that's so blatant as to be utterly charming. And it works. The director, the screenwriter, the actors, they all believe in this story, in this franchise, and it shows in their work. Rocky has always been all about heart and it warms me to see a film such as this being made in modern times. It tells me that people still believe in the right things.
I also like that they didn't try to reboot the series with Adonis. He is not meant to replace Rocky. Including this one, there have been seven Rocky movies so far, and they have built their own mythos, their own unique character cast. The story of Adonis builds on top of Rocky and Apollo, but it remains its own things.
What can I say, it's a great movie and worthy of the name of Rocky.