Creed review: “Packs as many emotional punches as physical ones”

Creed review: A knockout return to form for the Rocky franchise. Excellent direction from a solid script, along with a career-best Stallone makes this a must.

Creed review

In 1976 Sylvester Stallone delivered a film that would not only propel him to super-stardom, via a couple of Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, but a film that would forever act as a metaphoric motivational tool for one striving to succeed in any endeavor, whatever it may be. The Rocky template has been repeated in countless motion pictures ever since Stallone ran up those steps before the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the first time, including arguably the five sequels that followed it, concluding with the 2006 swan-song Rocky Balboa.

In 2016, Stallone returns to the franchise, albeit in a supporting role, for Creed, which is essentially a spin-off of the Rocky series, which takes it on an altogether different direction, though the path we follow seems very, very familiar.

Michael B. Jordan (Chronicle, Fruitvale Station) stars as the title character, Adonis Johnson Creed, the illegitimate son of Apollo Creed, Rocky’s greatest opponent and eventual friend. Following a series of scuffles in Los Angles Youth Facility, the young Adonis is taken in by his father’s widow, Mary Anne. After cruising through life in a series of jobs that fail to capture his imagination, Creed heads down the boxing route and tracks down his late father’s friend Rocky Balboa (Stallone) to train him. After an initial refusal, Rocky takes on the task, just as the former champion of the world discovers that he too may have the fight of his life on his own hands.

Creed review

Ryan Coogler is the creative force behind Creed. The 29-year-old Californian native co-writes the script with collaborator Aaron Covington, and takes control of the directing reigns in only his second feature following his superb debut Fruitvale Station back in 2013. Creed is the first Rocky movie that Stallone hasn’t had a hand in writing and/ or directing, and it shows. In a very positive way. The feel and formula are classic Rocky, but Coogler and Covington’s script, and definitely Coogler’s direction, add a very refreshing element to the format that was certainly tiring in the last few Rocky movies, before picking up slightly for the 2006 finale, Rocky Balboa. That movie provided the perfect send-off for the tiring fighter in a fatigued franchise, but still failed to capture the spirit of the original film

Creed provides a passing of the baton while still engaging fans of the original franchise. It is almost as gritty and raw as its near-perfect 1976 original. Michael B. Jordan is excellent as Adonis Creed, a talent that is fighting to find his way to the top of the boxing game, and trying to find his own route in life while dodging the overbearing shadow of his fallen father. Sylvester Stallone, despite taking a step back into the supporting part, is as good as he’s ever been as Creed’s new father figure; the man who he calls his Uncle. His humbled, greying, retired hero provides Stallone with a perfect platform to revisit the character in the best way since the original. Creed isn’t a rehash of things past and certainly isn’t a carbon copy of the generic sequels that came before it. Sure, there are similarities between this and the other Rocky movies, and there are many tips of the hat to its predecessors – we’d feel cheated if there wasn’t – but Coogler and co. have managed the impossible; to carvea new direction for an overcooked franchise that we thought we’d seen the last of while at the same time keeping die-hard fans of the original, like myself, happy.

Creed review

Apart from the superb acting, including a superb turn from Selma’s Tessa Thompson, a solid script and wonderful direction, Creed is choreographed wonderfully, and by that we mean the fight sequences and the camera work that captures it. Maryse Alberti’s cinematoghraphy is perfect; from the simplistic lighting to the dancing cameras that float around the ring in and out of the boxers as the fights take place (look out for a show-stopping 5-minute long, one-take, one-shot wonder about half way in). There are no Birdman-esque editing tricks here – this was done in one take. For real.

Creed is just about everything you’d want from a Rocky sequel and then some. A perfect return to an unforgettable franchise that we thought we’d seen the last of. A trip back to the previous movies would prove beneficial prior to viewing (we overloaded on them all over the festive break), but is obviously not essential as Coogler and his wonderful cast and crew have delivered a stunning restart/ reboot/ refresh (or whatever you want to call it) in that will hopefully continue for as long as Rocky did. Don’t worry, a sequel is already on the way for 2017

Inspiring, emotionally charged, fist-thrusting, air-punching, wonderful entertainment. Don;t hesitate in thinking about going to see Creed, just Go For It.

Creed review by Paul Heath, January 2016.

Creed is released in UK cinemas from Friday 15th January, 2016.