Solid boxing movie

Rating: 7/10 (20 August 2017)

Not too long ago I watched Rocky Balboa. While I don't think it's awful, there was a certain clumsiness to it that made it feel already very dated.
This movie is a lot more graceful with its execution and it earns the more emotional scenes. Michael B. Jordan puts in a really strong performance that holds the movie together. His relationship with Stallone's character really had to work to to pull off this movie and they do a great job. The romantic aspect to Jordan's character didn't work as well. Tessa Thompson hold her own but for a movie that's over 2 hours long their courtship felt rushed. I did appreciate them fleshing out her character and giving her her own career aspirations.
The actual boxing was a mixed bag. His first fight I loved how it was shot as to look like one continuous take with the camera floating around the boxers. The final match I didn't enjoy. It's very rushed and some of the rounds are reduced to a montage. It seemed like they wanted to sprint to the end for an emotional payoff rather than really showing the match. Southpaw for example is not as good of a movie but the boxing matches felt a lot more real and less like goofy slugfests.
I'm not sure if the director was intending to start a new franchise with Creed but I think he did make a movie far better than the later Rocky sequels. I'd be fine with following this character in another movie if the writing is as good as this one.