Stallone's comeback as an aging mentor

Rating: 6/10 (7 April 2016)

Rocky Balboa is back and this time as old as the hills and the owner of a restaurant in Philadelphia. Rocky's opponent Creed is long gone but his illegitimate child Adonis Creed lives. He decides to become a boxer like his father and looks up Rocky in Philadelphia and asks him to become his personal trainer. Creed is the first time Rocky is back on the big screen since 2006 and makes it the seventh film in the series.
Boxing movies is often very much the same when it comes to the story and I personally think it needs something else besides the boxing to really raise these films above normal. Like a dramatic problem behind the sport. Creed succeeds in doing this. We really feel for the son of Creed and understand why he does what he does, because the main focus is the drama behind the sport. In the end it doesn't really matter whether he wins or not because the personal revenge is more important than the sport itself. The decision not to let Rocky box but become a trainer, is good and should perhaps have been made in the last film 10 years ago. Sylvester Stallone has probably not portrayed Rocky this good since the first film in 1976.
Judging from the length of Creed, it certainly follows today's trend in length with its 2 hours and 13 minutes that actually makes it the longest Rocky film to date. Despite its length, the story goes on and is fairly exciting all the way through. It is a classic setup that still works, mostly because they polished and remade Stallone's Rocky into an aging mentor. I think that is the main reason why this film works so well. It is a personal revenge for the film series and also for Stallone who actually won a Golden Globe and received an Oscar nomination for his role.
David Lindahl - www.filmografen.se