A rebirth of a franchise with a huge dose of nostalgia !!!

Rating: 7/10 (18 February 2016)

'Creed' is directed and co-written by Ryan Coogler and it stars, Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone and Tessa Thompson. It tells the story of Adonis Johnson who never knew his father Apollo Creed. But he loves boxing and he seeks out Rocky Balboa to train him to become a top notch professional.
Although there is a theme running through the film about Adonis trying to initially run away from all connections with Apollo Creed to create his own identity but then identifying who he is and owning the name Creed later on, however the film apart from being a rebirth is also a big homage to the Rocky franchise. This movie depends on nostalgia and subtle references to the original series. The screenplay based on a story idea by Coogler is to be honest an updated and adjusted version of familiar elements of the films in the entire Rocky franchise especially the first Rocky film.
So the script isn't something that hooked me as it really is a mash- up of familiar elements. But what did really impress me is Coogler's direction and the acting on show. Coogler adds his style of independent filmmaking to the scenes. He really allows the actors to express themselves. There is a great amount of gravitas and humanity that is added to every scene. We end up caring for the characters big time. This is a film that could have easily been cheesy and Coogler's endearing direction prevents that from happening. Apart from the emotional aspect, Coogler shows great craftsmanship too especially in a fight scene where the entire boxing fight in the ring gets captured in one uninterrupted single take which was bloody impressive.
Michael B. Jordan is very good as Adonis. He brilliantly expresses the repressed inner struggle to prove himself in his own eyes and kill his inner demons. He also sells the boxing very well physically. But the standout performance in the film comes from Sylvester Stallone. He is surprisingly nuanced and I would go so far as to say that this might be my favourite Stallone performance ever. I have never seen him be this realistic and understated in anything ever before. His sheer charm and likability to some extent elevates the film to the next level.
So the film as a whole didn't give me anything that I didn't expect from the point of view of the script. But Coogler's command behind the camera, his emotional storytelling and the acting from Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone made this a very enjoyable film.
P.S. - I always knew Stallone was an Everton fan as I had seen him attend one of their matches at Goodison Park. But I didn't know his love for Everton was so huge. There are whole chunks of this film where you see nothing but the blue of Everton and clearly this was Stallone's idea, not Coogler's.