A thumping sports classic.

Rating: 10/10 (13 August 2019)

At its heart, Creed is a feel-good movie. It is a massively entertaining feel-good movie, with lots of great emotional moments. Michael B Jordan takes the franchise torch and leads the way with Creed, as the son of a legendary boxer who has difficulty trying to forge his own path against the backdrop of his dad's name and fame. He wants to prove something, but what?
Major props go to Sylvester Stallone. One might think he would be bored playing Rocky so much. Even if that were true, he produces the best Rocky after the original movie. He plays old, wise man Rocky, who is still troubled by thoughts of death and his wife, Adrian. Creed and Rocky are an excellent combination, and Jordan and Rocky have a beautiful chemistry that can go on for years if the studio chooses to squeeze a franchise out of it. Credits also go to Tessa Thompson. You may accuse the movie of having filler scenes, but they're all great filler scenes, simply because she was in them. However, she eventually proves to play a vital role in Creed's life.
Creed is the best movie in the whole Rocky franchise when it comes to technique. The first professional fight that Creed gets into was shot in one take. ONE TAKE, and it was way too awesome. It takes serious balls to do that, and skill to do it well, which this movie does. The final fight was extremely well shot, too. I love the decision of the movie to not use the classic Rocky score until and unless it was needed; possibly a metaphor for Creed's own story. The score is original, and memorable. I'll never forget the scene in which Jordan runs with the bikes soundtracked to (aptly) Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill, with traces of the score mixed. Great use of music.
I didn't expect this movie to be so good. Where most of us Rocky fans would have thought that this was another cheap attempt to make money, director Ryan Coogler proves otherwise. It convinced Marvel he was ideal for Black Panther (which he was eventually anyway). Creed 2 may not have been so good, either. But this movie, much like Adonis Creed, was not a mistake.