*Spoilered review* of this exceptional movie

Rating: 10/10 (22 December 2015)

Alright, it's time for my very first film review. My first film of choice is Creed, There will probably be lots of spoilers,I like spoilers, sorry. Firstly before I get into the plot points, this movie is probably the pinnacle of any movie ever, in my time. The first four Rocky films were released before I was born, when I was 4 Rocky V came out (to everyone's disappointment) then there was a great 16 year gap, no one ever thought Mr. Balboa would return. I remember watching Rocky when I grew up, it was great, he was this nobody he rose, he fell, Rocky Balboa was human, that's what made him great. When Rocky Balboa came out, life was great again, it was the swan song to the Rocky series...or so I had thought, it's good to know that that the champ still had some fight left in him. Our movie starts out with Adonis (Donnie) Johnson in a juvenile detention, the walls are cold and pale, new inmates are being brought in then they go on lock-down as we find out because Donnie was fighting one of the bigger kids due to the bigger kid making comments about Donnie's mother. Donnie is then introduced to Mary Ann Creed, whom Donnie assumes is another social worker and Mary Ann says she was married to Donnie's father, to which Donnie asks the man's name. Cut to present day Tijuana, Donnie fights the good fight and wins a bunch of cash, goes to work quits, he goes to Delphi's where Apollo trained and gets cocky offering his car to who knocks him down first, he comes so far to fall too fast and Stuntman Wheeler hit's him and alone Donnie drops. Angry, Donnie goes home, when dreaming he's guided to another world, there's a hunger, a longing to escape from the life he lives when he's awake. However when he get's home Mary Ann catches him she gets angry and informs him of the sacrifices she made taking care of Apollo. But after many years of holding her head up high and hiding pain that burned inside she let loose, and it fuelled Donnie's selfish pride. Donnie leaves to move to Philly, meets his love interest, goes to Adrian's (Rocky's restaurant) to speak with Rocky asking Rocky to train him, eventually revealing he is Apollo's son. After us as the viewers find out that Paulie has died, when Rocky goes to visit his grave for Paulie's birthday, Rocky then has a change of heart and decides to see what the kid had. Rocky agrees to train Donnie, Donnie want's to make a name for himself, and Rocky tries to explain to Donnie that we're held captive by the sun, a sun that shines for only some. Rocky agrees to let Donnie fight Leo Sporino as his first big fight, going under the name Donnie "Hollywood" Johnson. Rocky pulls him from Leo's father's gym and brings him to a different one in a different part of Philly with a team to help train. I liked this part especially, because it was the perfect transition of Rocky from fighter to trainer, as Rocky became the Mickey character of this story, an added bonus of this is that Rocky was Mickey's age in Creed as when Rocky came out. It is one of the most perfect torch passing moments seeing Rocky happily dance around to the wake up song, and comment how "chickens are getting slower" as Donnie has no problem catching one. Just before Donnie's first fight, Leo's father comes and tells Rocky he found out that Donnie is Apollo's son, he want's to use it to exploit the fight, Rocky asks him not to and Pete agrees, after beating Leo it comes out the next day that Donnie was born out of an affair Apollo had. A disgraced fighter, Ricky Conlan, hears this with his manager, the manager wants to promote a fight with Donnie using his Creed last name, as Donnie doesn't want to because he doesn't want to be thinking he's just using his late father's name to gain fame. While training Rocky falls ill and gets taken to the hospital. After a little bit of time, Donnie finds out that Rocky has cancer. After getting into a fight and thrown in jail, he agrees to keep on fighting and training, if Rocky would try the cancer treatment he had previously denied as it didn't work for Adrian. The fight is set for Conlan v. Creed. Mary Ann hears of the fight and sends Donnie Apollo's Red, White, and Blue trunks to fight in. During the 12 round fight, there were a few good times Donnie had, and other times where he left himself arms wide open, wearing a sign that said "welcome to this place" and shows Conlan everything. Eventually getting knocked out, Donnie should have been dead knocked out, expecting no return, as he dreams as if to say "heaven save me" when he's down to one last breath, he hears a thunder in the distance and a vision of his father, this brings tears to my eyes. In the end, after fighting the good fight, through Donnie's training and Rocky's help each man finds family in the other, they held each other when they were six feet from the edge and thinking maybe 6 feet ain't so far down. Eventually showing each other that you don't have to be related to be family. I'm on the fence of the ending of this, I understand that they wanted it to stay true to the franchise, but on the other hand Donnie was a Creed, not a Balboa. They could have let the kid win. This movie brought tears to my eyes. I could (and probably will) watch it again and again and again, until they make a Balboa series with Robert Rocky Balboa III becoming a fighter trained by Adonis "Donnie" Creed.