A Modern Re-telling Of The Story Of Rocky I

Rating: 9/10 (17 April 2016)

Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone together with Tessa Thompson star in this film which could be categorized as both a film update and sequel of the Rocky franchise entitled Creed.
It tells the story of Adonis "Donnie" Johnson,who happens to be an illegitimate child of Rocky's opponent in the first two films Apollo Creed from an extra-marital affair.It provides us the details of his life from walking away from his high-paying securities job and rich life and seeks Rocky Balboa in Philadelphia in order to follow the footsteps of his father to pursue a career in boxing.Director Ryan Coogler co-wrote the screenplay which was based from the characters of Stallone's original story in the 1976 classic Rocky.
No question that Rocky fans will recognize that story of Adonis has similarities from the first film.That includes the story of an underdog who isn't expected to do well inside the ring, the whole- hearted training given by Adonis in boxing, and his attitude towards life as to never give up no matter what circumstances they encounter.It was also nice to see the seventy year old Rocky himself learn from it after learning that he has cancer.He was ready to die to join the people that are close to him who already passed away such as Mickey,Paulie and his wife Adrian.But in the end,he had to re-learn values that made him a famous and endearing character to movie fans.Finally,we also get to see the events happen in Philadelphia and revisit memorable places when Rocky was to face Apollo decades ago such as Philadelphia Museum of Art and many others.
Familiar themes were tackled and places were revisited.Also,the events that took place including the final bout wherein Adonis lost the fight via split decision was definitely far from surprising as viewers probably have expected the same ending of the first film when Rocky did lose the same way to Apollo.In the end,Creed was effective in a modern update of the classic first film.It is also worthy to mention that Stallone finally got an Oscar nomination just like in the first film instead of another Razzie which he normally gets every year for a surprising great performance of an old Rocky. I felt that the film was basically a modern re-telling of the story of Rocky I.If that was Creed's objective,then it has truly succeeded.