Creed

After the Rocky franchise concluded with a sixth installment titled, “Rocky Balboa,” Sylvester Stallone went on to work on other films such as “Rambo IV” & “The Expendables” series. Meanwhile, former cast member of HBO’s “The Wire,” Michael B. Jordan, transitioned to adulthood by starring in movies including “Chronicle” and the Razzie award winning picture, “Fan4stic.” The latter nearly damaged his career, until a miracle happened, he signed on to star as Apollo Creed’s son Adonis, in a spin-off titled, “Creed” the seventh installment of the Rocky franchise.

Creed was released in 2015. (the same year Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out) It earned critical acclaim from critics and longtime fans of the series. Plus, it made enough revenue at the box office. Apollo himself, Carl Weathers also praised the movie & Michael B. Jordan’s performance as his onscreen son.

Creed went on to earn award nominations at The Golden Globes & The Academy Awards. Sylvester Stallone racked up the most nominations, he took home a Globe for “Best Supporting Actor.” Unfortunately, he didn’t win an Oscar.

Now that Creed II is officially out, I want to share my real thoughts about each film before seeing the eighth installment of the Rocky franchise.

The following review doesn’t contain no crucial SPOILERS. Feel free to read my non-spoiler article.

Victory & Defeat Aspects

Victory: Michael B. Jordan did a fantastic job for his performance as Adonis Creed.

Sylvester Stallone reprises his role as Rocky Balboa. He did an outstanding job for his iconic performance yet again.

Besides Michael, newcomers to the Rocky series including Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad & real life boxer Anthony Bellow all did a decent job for their performances.

Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) did a fantastic job for writing and directing the film.

Ludwig Göransson (Black Panther, Venom) orchestrated music for the movie.

Cinematography looked pretty darn good lacking technical difficulties.

The chemistry between Adonis & Rocky parallels Rocky & Mickey’s interaction from the first three original entries. Rocky affectionately calls Adonis “kid” & the latter calls the former “old man.”

Adonis relationship with Bianca, mirrors Rocky & Adrian’s romance. Both Adonis & Bianca’s chemistry felt normal without ripping off the first film’s emotional love story.

Adonis’ personality & skills are a combination of Apollo & Rocky.

One character made a Godfather reference. Roger Ebert once said that Sly is the next Marlon Brando.

If you’re a huge fan of Rocky, many scenes pay homage to the previous entries.

A training montage properly builds up Adonis’ abilities before his epic boxing match.

Character Development involving Creed. At first he doesn’t want to honor his father’s surname. Once he trains and gains Rocky & Bianca’s respect, he becomes a better person.

As a result of Character Development from the last six films, Rocky is now a wise mentor. Similar to Mickey who served as a father figure, Rocky acts as one because he views Adonis as a son to him.

A shocking twist is revealed. I can’t tell you what it is, you’re gonna have to see for yourself. If you’re a longtime fan of the Rocky series, you’re gonna be appalled.

Adonis’ backstory shows us a flashback of his childhood as well as his connection to his father’s legacy.

Rocky addresses his son’s absence.

Without giving too much away, Paulie’s absence has been addressed.

Liev Schreiber (Sabertooth from X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ray Donovan) voices an HBO announcer.

Real life ring announcer Michael Buffer makes a cameo appearance just like he did in Rocky Balboa.

Whenever a a character or two enters a scene, the film pauses by giving us viewers info about each fighter’s stats. Kinda like the cutscenes from Super Smash Bros Brawl whenever a character appears onscreen, the cutscene pauses with a text of the fighter’s name.

Near the end of the movie, the iconic Rocky theme is played.

The final scene between Rocky & Adonis going to a familiar location, makes you remember the good ol’ days of the franchise. It’ll make you shed a tear.

Defeat: To be honest, I couldn’t find anything wrong with this picture. I’m giving The Cast & Crew an Extra Point for making a film as flawless as possible.

The Final Verdict: A, FOR APEX!

Creed managed to surprise as one of the best entries in the Rocky series. It’s my second favorite movie of the franchise, while the original is obviously Number 1. If you’re excited to see Creed II, I strongly recommend this movie.