Creed

Rating: 10/10 (24 November 2019)

Rocky has become a pop-culture reference, a true movie classic and an inspiration among people around the world. It is a story that revolves around a small-time boxer who achieves greatness within the rare chance of becoming a heavy-weight champion. In 1977, 'Rocky' won 3 Oscars out of its 10 nominations in various categories including best screenplay and best leading actor. This was a success that launched a series of sequels that have been positively received by critics and the public, while some failed to achieve the same success to its predecessor. It's been 9 years since we last saw Sylvester Stallone in his iconic role as Rocky Balboa in ' Rocky Balboa' , and suddenly
a young director Ryan Coogler ( Fruitvale Station ) comes around and pitched an idea that would bring back Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa along with introducing a new rising star Michael B. Jordan as the protagonist: Adonis Creed, the son of the great Apollo Creed who was played by Carl Weathers in the previous Rocky films. Only this time around, we see Rocky taking up the mantle as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Creed.
The film starts with a flashback where we see Adonis Creed as a child in juvenile detention until he gets a visit from a woman who turns out to be his father's wife. The woman takes him in, and we cut to present day where
Adonis has grown up in wealth in L.A. and he has everything. Except he doesn't. He does small time underground boxing without his stepmother knowing, but he feels the urge to box professionally like his father did. Adonis Creed decides to quit his job and move to Philadelphia and build up his boxing career. This is where he searches for Rocky Balboa to coach him. This comes as a surprise since Rocky didn't know that Apollo Creed had a son with another woman. We see that Rocky Balboa doesn't want to train Adonis since he still feels guilt over Apollo Creed's death that happened in the ring in 'Rocky IV' (1985). And the story builds up from here where we see an emotional and inspirational journey that takes these two characters on a deep discovery about each other, and at the same time we meet various universal themes such as: father-and-son / parent-to-children relationship, finding the right path, success in life, etc.
Director Ryan Coogler's vision and his writing in this film is raw and realistic. And with the combination of outstanding performances from Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone, you get a very compelling and riveting story that has so many layers to it. With an Oscar nomination this is one of Sylvester Stallone's best performances in his acting career. The score composed by Ludwig Göransson pays a great homage to Bill Conti's iconic work on the Rocky films. This is a riveting, compelling and emotionally driven film that is true to what the first ' Rocky' stood for and with the inclusion of a new and young blood to the saga that plants the seeds for a new franchise that resonates well towards a younger audience in present youth culture, 'Creed' is a great film that balances elements from the first Rocky film while expressing universal themes such as family and the relationship between a father and son in a beautiful way.