It has been nearly 40 years since we first met Rocky Balboa. “Rocky” won the Best Picture Oscar for 1976 and had five sequels, the most recent in 2006. Sylvester Stallone thought that “Rocky Balboa” would be the final chapter for the character that brought him all this popularity, but young filmmaker Ryan Coogler (a lifelong fan of the films) had another idea. For the first time ever, Stallone did not write the script, which was given credit to Coogler and Aaron Covington. Pete Hammond said in his review, “As I say in my video review, this is not your father’s Rocky movie but a whole re-invention centered on the previously unknown illegitimate son of past Balboa opponent Apollo Creed.”
Hammond went on to say, “Michael B. Jordan, who worked with Coogler in on the 2013 indie sensation Fruitvale Station, takes on the part of Adonis Creed, and the character is a nice twist on the original Creed.” He never knew his father, who died before he was born. He’s an unstable kid, raised in a great household thanks to being adopted by Creed’s widow, played by Claire Huxtable the lawyer and Ruth Lucas herself, Phylicia Rashad, nicely understated, who finds out who his father was, and soon realizes he’s got his dad’s boxing DNA. This takes him to Philadelphia and the restaurant now run by Rocky with a journey to make him his boxing trainer. After disagreeing to his wishes to become a corner man, Rocky returns to the boxing realm he left behind.
Hammond said it best when he said, “Coogler has cleverly turned the tables, and this Creed is the underdog with heart that we find ourselves pulling for against fearsome opponents in the ring.” Actually, all of his opponents are professional boxers in real life, including three-time ABA heavyweight champion Anthony Bellew. Even though the film follows a different formula set in stone by Stallone almost 40 years ago, it has its own heart and soul and could be the start of a new series of films focused on Adonis. The boxing sequences are amazing; including one of the first that is pretty much one big shot with great particular camera work (cinematographer is Maryse Alberti, who shot “The Wrestler”). Hammond mentioned, “There’s a gritty indie feel to much of what Coogler gets on the screen, but he hasn’t forsaken what we — and he — loved about the Rocky legacy. It has just been passed to the NextGen, with the exception of giving a meaty, moving supporting role to Stallone, who delivers his best screen work since, well, his Oscar-nominated turn that introduced us to Rocky Balboa in 1976.”
It definitely is hard to keep redoing the storyline but somehow Coogler, Jordan and Stallone have done it with “Creed,” released back in November, which ends up in an entertaining and satisfying new chapter. I should almost mention Tessa Thompson, who plays Bianca, a singer who is the romantic interest for Adonis, similarly how Adrian was there for Rocky.
Hammond noted, “Stallone hasn’t totally left his behind-the-scenes involvement, serving as a producer along with original producers Irwin Winkler and the late Robert Chartoff plus Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler and Kevin King Templeton.” MGM and Warner Bros along with New Line Cinema are the producing companies for the movie.
Michael B. Jordan, you have officially washed “Fantastic Four” out of your system. You have quickly come back with a great movie, which was one of the best movies that came out last year. The first one gave you the Italian side of Philadelphia, with this one you get to see the African-American side of Philadelphia.
The theater experience was one of the best I ever had. Well, except for the fact that during the training scene, the screen went black. A few people had to go out to tell the ushers, they apologized, rewinded the movie to the beginning of the training montage once the movie came back on the screen, and we continued. It’s strange because I have gone to this theater so many times, and this never happened. However, the reaction from the crowd was just phenomenal. During the boxing matches, everyone was getting into the movie and making reactions during the shots, which you feel the weight of the punch when they make contact. I haven’t had this experience of everyone getting into the movie in a long time. This movie really surprised me, especially since I heard Stallone was thinking of making a seventh movie, but I thought the series was done. Stallone did say that he was thinking of making the seventh Rocky about getting older than about boxing, which sounded like a nice idea. If they go on with this series but have Adonis as the central force, I won’t mind. Just leave the Rocky character alone now since I don't see what more can be done with the character.
If you missed the chance to see this in theaters, and there is a theater that is playing “Creed,” I highly recommend everyone go out to see it. If it’s not, than wait for the DVD to be released and rent it or buy it, it’s that good of a movie. I promise you, you will love it.
Well, that ends “Rocky Week.” I hope all of you enjoyed it, and I feel relieved now that I have talked about all of the Rocky movies. Check in tomorrow to see what I will review for the rest of the month, which will be returning to my regular Friday reviews.
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