Review of Creed (2015) by Mike S — 06 May 2016

It would be easy to dismiss this film as just another Rocky movie and a spin off Rocky movie at that.

However, that would be unfair, as the movie is probably the best sequel to Rocky that has been made to date.

The film does at times feel a little like The Force Awakens, in that it is hitting many of the original films beats whilst telling an updated version of the same story. However, the film manages to not feel just feel like a carbon copy, primarily due to a good examination of the character of Rocky, played very well by Stallone, in an Oscar nominated performance.

This film feels like the sequel to Rocky V we should have gotten instead of the film Rocky Balboa. Whilst Balboa wasn't a bad film, it suffered from a ridiculous premise that undercut much of the drama. This film doesn't suffer from that and works hard to give legitimacy to the 'son of famous sportsman following in his dad's footsteps' story that could have come off very weak.

It's got all the fan moments though, including the standard training montage, underdog fighting everyone for his shot at the big time, fights with loved ones who come back to the hero's side at the crucial moment, ect. We even get the classic Rocky music in all the right places. However, some of the modern hip-hop music is surprisingly out of place and feels weak, especially when Adonis steps into the ring for the main event. The music leaves the scene feeling flat, rather than giving it the tension that was so important in the original films.

This film manages to be more focused as a serious drama, making it more like Rocky 1 and 2 (and even 5), without the silliness of Rocky 3 or 4. In fact, apart from Micky's and Apollo's death, there is no real mention of Rocky 3 or 4 throughout the movie.

The film sets itself up for more films to follow, but, like the Rocky series after just about each film, it probably doesn't need another sequel and should leave us wanting a little bit more.