Creed (2015) Movie Review
Creed is a deeply affecting boxing movie that is an unofficial follow up to Rocky and it's a great movie that stands on its own, away from the Rocky franchise.
Like I said this film is the unofficial follow up to Rocky. It follows Adonnis Creed, Apollo Creed's son, and his fight for his own legacy away from his fathers who was also a boxer (who was in a Rocky Movie). He passed away sadly during a boxing fight and this movie starts with Adonnis (played by Michael B. Jordon) in a foster home, and he already is getting in fights until Apollo Creeds wife takes him home with him.
From there the movie follows him quitting his job and starting to train and box. I thought it was smart not to delve into Adonnis's background and to start with the boxing right away. This movie is very long so it was smart to start the main story so early. This movie is great and you need to see it in theaters and here's why. The direction is amazing, the acting is also incredible, yes we've seen this story before young troubled boy gets sucked into the boxing world but this ones different. He's fighting for his family's name and he's trying to make a name for himself and his own legacy.
The technical aspect of this film is impeccable, one of the fights was shot in one take and it's beautiful and the overall camerawork is great! The story even though it's similar is not cliche and cheesy as one would think. Even the love story wasn't forced and it did not become the main focus of the story, which was also smart. Michael B. Jordan, his girlfriend, and Sylvester Stallone were all great and had amazing chemistry. I teared up plenty of times and I thought the story was extremely emotional and easy to relate to. The soundtrack was also good and had some local talent. Of course, Meek Mill, who is from Philadelphia, had two songs on the soundtrack and the score is very cinematic and sounds amazing. The direction was very strong and Ryan Coogler is a young directional talent that needs to be followed closely, after this movie and Fruitvale Station he is on fire and I can't wait to see what he has up next.
I really only have a few negatives with this movie. I thought some of the drama was forced and that the runtime was a little too long. Like when his girlfriend left him, I thought they did that just so Adonnis would have more motivation but I felt like her character wouldn't have left and acted that way. I did enjoy the Rocky cancer storyline and I thought that added a lot of emotional moments. That was the way to do it, not some forced drama between the couple.
They could've cut out many of the training scenes also not all of them just some of them just to shorten the runtime. Some extra things I didn't cover in the first paragraph, I thought the ending was perfect and I did not (SPOILER) expect Adonnis to lose the fight, which I thought was so smart to do because every sports movie ever the main character or team always wins, so I was very surprised by such a bold statement from Ryan Coogler.
I really hope that this skyrockets Michael B. Jordan's career. After the box office bomb that Fantastic Four was, his career is back on the right path. We could use more African Americans in movies, they don't get the same opportunities as white actors and this kid is very talented and deserves to be an A-lister! Great movie, go see it in theaters now!
