Retro, minimalistic pugilistic movie

Rating: Null/10 (27 June 2016)

Boxing stories can be told in a retro style. In fact many are, such as "Cinderella Man" and "Southpaw". What happens in the ring, if capably presented, renders contemporary Hollywood fast-paced, visual-image-heavy narrative unnecessary for generating excitement. Telling the story in the good old-fashioned way is just fine. But minimalistic is something else.
The titular name should be familiar to "Rocky" fans. This movie, however, is not on a spin-off of Rocky's rival and eventually friend Apollo Creed (whom some claims to have been modelled after Ali), but about someone who initially deliberately avoids association with the world-renounced name. Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) is his out-of-wedlock son and, despite being rescued from deprivation by Creed's widow and brought up in affluence, understandably wants to make it on his own. As plot line requires, the secret finally leaks and Johnson enters the climatic fight as a Creed.
Those who have seen "Southpaw" will remember Forest Whitaker's powerful performance as the protagonist's (an excellent Jake Gyllenhaal) trainer. Trainer-fighter relationship features just as importantly in "Creed". Without duly undermining Sylvester Stallone, he is not quite in the same acting league as WhitakerÂ…well, not until Rocky becomes young Creed's trainer. Stallone won Golden Globe for best supporting actor, and got a shot at Oscar which, unfortunately for him, had an exceptionally strong field (Mark Rylance eventually came out on top, deservedly, with "Bridge of Spies"). Still, Stallone put in a good fight (no pun intended) with the uncharacteristic minimalistic performance denoted in my summary line. Michael Jordan (Bakari, not Jeffrey) shuns his silly persona in the "Fantastic Four" reboot and puts in a wonderful performance, also minimalistic. Playing the protagonist's singer girlfriend, Tessa Thompson is simply endearing.
Circling back to my summary line, watching "Creed" feels like savoring a favorite meal that mother used to make: simple pleasure, including the blood and sweat in the exciting bouts.