Surprisingly and satisfyingly good sequel

Rating: Null/10 (18 January 2016)

Sylvester Stallone has had a remarkable cinematic career with at its heart two very personal franchises: "Rocky" (now on his seventh outing in "Creed") and later "Rambo" (who managed four expeditions).
The first and more successful of the series started way back in 1976 when Stallone - who wrote the script and took the leading role - created the character of the Philadelphia low-grade boxer who managed, against all the odds, to go the distance with world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed. In "Rocky II" (1979), after 15 brutal rounds, he defeats Creed and takes the title. In 1982, "Rocky III" sees our hero lose to Mr T before Apollo helps him bounce back. By the time of "Rocky IV" (1985), the franchise had acquired an international dimension as the Cold War is acted out in the ring with Rocky squaring up to the Russian Ivan Drago. Another five years passed before Stallone felt that he had to return to the iconic role when, in "Rocky V", he adopts a young fighter who turns on him. That really should have been it - but, a full 16 years after the previous film, he was back in "Rocky Balbao", finding that he has something "lurking in the basement".
Now, after an interval of another nine years, amazingly Rocky is with us yet again in a movie which for the first time is not named after him, for the first time since the original film is not directed by Stallone, and for the first time ever is not written by Stallone. This time Stallone is only in a support role, although he gives a fine performance. This time, we have an African-American version of the franchise, with director and co-writer 29 year old Ryan Coogler, lead actor Michael B Jordan, and lead actress Tessa Thompson all being people of colour - although race as such does not feature in the plot. Instead this is a story of self-esteem, as Adonis 'Donny' Johnson (Jordan), the illegitimate son of Rocky's great friend Apollo Creed, seeks out Rocky to train him in the skills that made his father so successful.
In a similar way that "The Force Awakens" retreads the narrative path of "A New Hope" with so many allusions to other films in the "Star Wars" franchise, so "Creed" essentially follows the path of the original "Rocky' movie with constant references to the earlier works in the series. So we have many of the same training techniques and demonstrations of physical prowess (including those one-armed press-ups) and some visceral bouts of boxing. Heck, we even finish up on those 72 steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. But it is all done with great reverence and flourish with excellent cinematography and a strong soundtrack, so it is a surprisingly satisfying return to the ring.