Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? If you’re a Rocky fan.
Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Yes.
Secret ending? No.
Running time: 133 minutes (~2.25 hours)
“Creed” is a sports drama that’s the 7th in the “Rocky” franchise. It’s about a young boxer struggles to live up to his father’s legacy, and ends up seeking out Rocky for help. It stars Michael B. Jordan (Adonis Creed), Sylvester Stallone (Rocky Balboa), Tessa Thompson (Bianca), Phylicia Rashād (Mary Anne Creed), and Tony Bellew (Ricky Conlan).
“Creed” is an intense drama that focuses on the performances first, and the action second. It explores Adonis’ own fears and hopes, as he seeks to forge his own path, a path that’s distinct from his father’s. While Rocky might be a big part of the film, it’s ultimately Adonis’ story, and the beginning of a new chapter for the “Rocky” series.
Highlights
Rocky’s deadpan lines
Rocky delivers many of his quips and jibes with a straight face, immediate leaving Adonis behind to pick up the pace. It’s a nice touch of humour in an otherwise straight and serious film about boxing, and helps add colour to the intense performances of both leads. It also helps that Rocky’s jokes are contrasted against his natural scowl, and this makes his monotonous insults even funnier by comparison.
Rocky and Adonis’ friendship
The two share a strong dynamic, which is evidenced in how they address each other. Rocky calls Adonis “Donnie” while Adonis never addresses Rocky the same way twice. Their mentor-student relationship eventually blossoms into a surrogate father-son relationship, which lends weight to the final fight that Adonis has. It strengthens the motivation that Adonis has for becoming a boxer, and amplifies any wins or losses he has, because they don’t just belong to him, they belong to Rocky too.
Adonis’ motivations
In the final fight, Adonis utters one sentence that explains everything he’s been through, which also sums up his entire reason for fighting. It’s a powerful piece of characterisation that we instinctively understand, that makes us root for him. His motivation is a basic, universal need for acceptance and purpose that we all share, and it’s made stronger by the physical way he expresses it.
Letdowns
Bianca feels out of place
Not only does Bianca seem like an artificially contrived plot device to add a female character to the cast, there’s no chemistry between Adonis and Bianca. She’s given a fairly detailed backstory, but that never pays off. In fact, her one defining feature, her handicap, is completely pointless. It only comes into play in one other scene, and is never mentioned again. The film would have felt so much tighter if the Bianca scenes were deleted, and it wouldn’t have hurt the plot at all.
Too few fights
For a movie of this length, I was expecting far more boxing action. It’s not that the action isn’t good. The fights are well choreographed and differentiated, filled with tension and surprises. The problem is that there are only a handful of major fights in a 133 minute film. Another fight or two would have definitely picked up the pace, and might even have made up for Bianca’s presence in the movie.
“Creed” is a great sports drama with nuanced characterisation. Even if you’re not a Rocky fan, you’ll appreciate the film for both the action and the characters.
“Creed” opens in cinemas 26 November, 2015 (Thursday).
This review was first published on Yahoo.
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