Oscar Worthy Performances With Unnecessary Subplots

Rating: Null/10 (3 December 2015)

'Creed' is a good movie with great acting and great directing. The humor kept me focused, bits dropped in here & there to grounded an exaggerated plot and bring it back to reality. Director Ryan Coogler knows how to give a nod to the old 'Rocky' fans without pandering to an audience, but the workout montages were too much. I would have rather seen the story slowed down and not worry about time constraints.
Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone have a great chemistry on screen. The one thing I like personally about Sylvester Stallone is that he's a high-profile actor who knows how to take a back seat to make the movie work. Sly is a humble man. Too many actors today (Tom Cruise being the perfect example) would have jumped on this role and put the sole focus on them. Jordan is young likable actor still proving himself in Hollywood and I hope 'Creed' gives him the attention he deserves. I expect great things to come from him.
Phylicia Rashad is wonderful. She is an actor that can say 1000 words in a single look. She's brilliant. I found it sad that her character Mary Anne Creed was pushed into the background of this film. One can remember how the "Mrs. Creed" of Rocky 1, 2 & 4 was the woman behind the bigger-than-life Apollo Creed; This would have been that character's moment to finally shine. Phylicia Rashad gets under-utilized as the character with the most direct family connection to Creed and Adonis Johnson.
Almost the same situation happens with the Bianca character, played wonderfully by Tessa Thompson. Instead of making her background decor, she's arm candy in this film. Bianca is sexy & beautiful, she's a talented motivated woman, but Ryan Coogler just wants her to be the new woman behind the bigger-than-life man. She progresses as a subplot that could be edited out completely without interfering with the story. I can't stand to see talented women like Tessa Thompson under utilized for a testosterone flick.
The writing though ( damn) seemed like a lot of people were putting their own ideas into the story; It was over done - complicated by subplots of cancer, people refusing to train Adonis and the unnecessary girlfriend drama. The reason the 1976 'Rocky' remains so popular is because it was a simple down-to-earth story about a regular guy who gets an unbelievable opportunity. Adonis started out young & angry thinking life owed him something and he held on to that belief for most of the movie. He completely ignoring any sense of humility ... even when he was humiliated.
The editing provided that perfect single take two-round boxing match but then lagged into the main event. Of all the places you needed something closer to the OG 'Rocky' movie it should have been in the ring. The only thing resembling 'Rocky' in the ring was the bad fight choreography ... It's been near 40 years people, that's not how real boxing works. You don't wrestle & spin each other in the corner and you don't stand still and take wide hooks to the jaw.
All in all with some easy to overlook errors, 'Creed' is still a fun watch. It's got some Oscar worthy performances, not really an Oscar worthy piece, but it will always be a guilty pleasure for me.