Right so I recently seen a film I've been meaning to get around to for quite a while and so for this post I'm going to review it and the film in question is Creed, which might see the start of a new franchise next to Rocky. So how does this one fair??? Well let's get in the ring and find out....
And yes the usual warning is coming:
SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!
STORY
So the story begins with its main character, Adonis "Donnie" Johnson as a young teenager back in 1998 who is serving time in an LA youth facility, where he is paid a visit by Apollo Creed's widow, Mary Anne (Phylicia Rashad) who tells Donnie that his father was in fact Apollo. The story then jumps forward 17 years with Donnie now an adult (played by Michael B. Jordan) who quits his job at a securities firm to persue his lifelong dream of becoming a professional boxer, despite the protests of Mary Anne.
Donnie then travels to Philadelphia where he meets Rocky Balboa (Sly Stallone) and asks that he train him after telling him that he is Apollo's son, Rocky at first is reluctant but he soon agrees to train Donnie when he sees how determined he is. Meanwhile Donnie also befriends a girl, Bianca (Tessa Thompson) who lives in the same apartment building as him and Bianca, who is an up and coming singer, soon becomes involved with Donnie.
After Donnie and Rocky start training together, Donnie takes on a local fighter and given the interest of their partnership, word soon get's out that Donnie is the son of Apollo Creed although Donnie prefers to use the surname of Johnson instead of Creed so he can make his own legacy without using his father's name. Donnie soon wins the fight and he gains the attention of the handlers of the world light heavyweight champion, "Pretty" Ricky Conlan (Tony Bellew) who is being forced into retirement due to an oncoming prison sentence. Conlan offers to make Donnie his last challenger but only if Donnie uses the name "Creed" instead of "Johnson" to which Donnie reluctantly agrees.
However things during Donnie's train takes a dramatic turn as it is revealed that Rocky has a cancer in the form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Rocky however having seen the effects that chemo had on his deceased wife, Adrian, decides not to undergo chemotherapy. This then shakes things up for Donnie who then pleads for Rocky to undergo the treatment or else he won't fight, which sees Rocky decide to take the chemo while Donnie trains. And this soon leads into the film's climax where Donnie goes off to fight Conlan in Liverpool where his chance to make good on his father's name....
THOUGHTS
As an essential follow up to Rocky Balboa aswell as the possible start of a new franchise, Creed is a very enjoyable follow on from the previous Rocky films. And that it also offers the possibility of a new franchise of Creed films this film would be the perfect starting point. And its good to see a different take on the Rocky universe where a new character has emerged and will go on to carry the flag for the series.
PERFORMANCES (Warning: this section may contain the odd spoiler!)
So performance wise the film is pretty good and its cast all do a fine job but I won't keep this section too overstuffed as I usually do and will keep things a bit shorter than usual.
Starting with Michael B. Jordan who is pretty good in his role as Donnie Creed, the ambitious young boxer is out to make a name for himself and follow in his father's footsteps. Jordan certainly has the physique to play the part and he does well enough with Donnie's playful moments and delivering some amusing smart ass dialogue here and there. Jordan also manages to show Donnie's emotional conflict fairly well as he has to deal with both Rocky and Bianca, his love interest and the dramas that both their storylines present.
Jordan has some good moments that include the scene when Donnie asks if he can move into Rocky's house so they can train more effectively together. And in the scene Donnie says to Rock "I can train at your house" and Rocky says "No I don't know nobody's been to my house in a long time you might be uncomfortable there" and Donnie sarcastically says "What, do you walk around naked?!".
And then there is the scene where Donnie prepares to fight and he says to Rocky that he has to prove himself and Rocky says "Prove what?" and Donnie says "That I'm not a mistake!". And in addition to this there is the scene where Bianca finds out that Donnie's surname is in fact Creed from a news headline. And after they argue and then make-up on the streets and Bianca asks Donnie what he is a afraid in being a Creed and Donnie says "I'm afraid of taking on the name and losing".
And lastly there is the fun moment where Donnie, who keps calling Rocky "Unc" in the film (short for uncle of course!) and in one scene where Donnie arrives outside Rocky's restaurant (called Adrienne's after his late wife) he calls him "Unc". And in the scene Rocky asks Donnie "Did you call me unc?" and Donnie says "Yeah, it was either that or O.G." and Rocky asks "What's an O.G?" and Donnie says "Old ass gangster!".
Sylvester Stallone is once again great in his career defining role as Rocky Balboa and he continues to play the part with a great deal of charm and wamrth. Stallone also get's the film's best lines and has some good moments that include the one where Rocky warns Donnie about how "Woman weaken legs" the same advice that Rocky's former coach, Mickey used to impart to him!
Then there is the scene where Donnie meets with Rocky who gives him a some boxing drills to go through, which Rocky writes out on paper and Donnie uses his smartphone and takes a pic of the instructions. And as Donnie is about to leave without the paper, Rocky asks him "Hey don't you want this?" and Donnie says holding his phone out "Its on this" and Rocky asks "What if you lose it?" and Donnie says "Its already in the cloud!" and he runs off. And Rocky looks up to the clouds, confused and he says "What cloud?!".
Then there are moments where Rocky gives out his boxing philosophy to Donnie and one of the most notable ones comes when Rocky has Donnie look at himself in the mirror at the gym. And Rocky looking at Donnie's reflection says "You see this guy here? That's the toughest opponent you're ever going to have to face! I believe that's true in the ring and I think that's true in life".
And lastly there is the scene when Rocky and Donnie chat about Apollo and Donnie asks Rock about Apollo and how was he and Rocky says "Apollo? Yeah, he was great. Perfect fighter. Ain't nobody ever better". And Donnie asks "So how did you beat him?" and Rocky says "Time beat him. Time, you know, takes everybody out. It's undefeated!".
Tessa Thompson is also very good as Bianca, Donnie's love interest in the film and it is also revealed that she has oncoming hearing loss and she uses her performances in music to help her feel alive. Bianca's character at first does come across as being a bit cynical, particularly as she likes to play her music too loud at night, which is what first introduces Donnie to her as they stay in the same apartment building and Donnie knocks on her door to tell her to keep the music down.
And Tessa has some good moments too that include the one where Bianca looks out her apartment window and sees that Donnie is moving his stuff out of his apartment with Rocky's help. And Bianca asks Donnie "Hey, Donnie are you moving?" and Donnie says "Yeah I'm going to be livin with my uncle for a bit" and Bianca says "That's your uncle? He's white!".
And last of all I will mention Phylicia Rashad who does pretty well in her part as Donnie's adopted mother, Mary Anne, Apollo's widow who takes Donnie in after his troubled early years in and out of detention centres. And last last of all there is Tony Bellew who is good in his role as Ricky Conlan who takes on Donnie in his last champion bout. Bellew himself is a real life light heavyweight boxing champion.
DIRECTOR
Direction wise, Ryan Coogler does an excellent job here as he confidently handles the dramatic themes of the film but at the same time he also shows a great deal of respect to the Rocky franchise that went before this film itself. Coogler also wrote the screenplay for the film as well so his combined efforts here are quite impressive as he delivers a good script with some good dialogue that feels down to earth. In short this film shows that Coogler can handles his subject very well and hopefully he will be involved in any future Creed films.
MUSIC
Music wise the film features a score by Swedish composer, Ludwig Goransson which is good and fits the film's tone pretty well even if it doesn't quite stand out the same way in which Bill Conti's stirring Rocky scores did. Other music used in the film than its original score also features work by some hip hop artists such as Future, Meek Mill and White Dave (don't know any of them myself!). So overall the score is a pretty decent one if not necessarily the best or most memorable.
FLAWS (Warning this part may contain the odd spoiler!)
As for the film's flaws....well yeah there are the odd one or two.
And for starters the one thing I felt about the film is that it is just a bit too long and at 2 hours and 13 minutes it does feel a bit flabby and there are certain moments in the film that could have benefited from being trimmed. And this highlights a few issues with the film's pacing overall as it is a bit slow and plodding at times and I personally think it would have been better if Creed was a shorter film.
I also felt that even though Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson share a nice low-key chemistry with one another I often had problems understanding what they were saying, particularly in the scene where Donnie and Bianca go out on their date (or sort of date!) to a diner. And in the scene they kept mumbling their words and talking in the kind of African American slang, which makes it even harder to understand what they are saying to each other. And I hope this doesn't come off as being racist (which I'm not honest!) but I wish in those scenes they talked more in a way that would be clearer to non-American audiences as some of their chemistry is lost in these moments if you can't understand what they are saying.
You could also argue that Donnie is a bit of a dick at times as he pretty much forces Rocky into coaching him and its almost like he gives him no choice, which eventually leaves Rocky to give in and say "You just don't give in, do you? You're like a woodpecker!". And you feel that Donnie is someone that just expects people to come around to his way without much or little say, which I kind of felt was a bit alienating at times but other than his character is mostly OK.
Another issue I had with the film was to do with the idea of Conlan, being the light heavyweight world champion, yet setting him up as some sort of bad guy with a history, who has even got a jail sentence infront of him. And even during the fight sequence Conlan is seen belittling Creed like he was Clubber Lang in the ring (well a white version!) or even the Albino badass karate student in the Karate Kid, who bullies his way through the film but in the end gives his respect to his opponent, Daniel La Russo who wins the championship trophy from him. So its almost like an obligatory bad guy thing you have to have in these films, which just feels a bit old.
And lastly (SPOILER WARNING) there was the whole subplot of Rocky's cancer and how he underwent chemotherapy and yeah OK you do see Rocky undergo the treatment during Donnie's montage training scene. But what the film doesn't properly tell is the outcome of Rocky's treatment as you are just expected to believe he is on the mend at the end of the film (given that ***SPOILER ALERT**** he is still alive in it!). So that is something that was never again addressed in the film, no "yeah my cancer is now gone into remission, I'm going to be OK" or anything like that for the audience, so instead we are just led to believe that Rocky will be OK. Well if they make a sequel to this film and Rocky is still in it then I guess we'll know that for sure but until then its all left a bit uncertain.
Anyway that's it for the flaws....
SUM UP
So to sum up, Creed is an enjoyable addition to the Rocky universe, which may well see it develop its own new universe with Creed. And Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone both work well togther on screen in their respective roles as does the supporting cast. Pacing wise the film is a bit slow however and there is not much doubt that it could have done with being about 15 or 20 minutes shorter. But if you can forgive that then you will find much to enjoy here and it sees a new intriguing character come onto the big screen.
Right so that's it for now and I'll be baaackkk with another review next month.
So until the next un its ciao for now!
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