dir. by Ryan Coogler
The latest Rocky sequel finally lives up to the series' legacy while retaining its own unique identity.
Adonis "Donny" Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) is an illegitimate son of the late Adonis Creed, who Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) had defeated decades prior. With fighting in his nature and his father's legacy hanging over him, Adonis begins boxing, and seeks Rocky for training. While Rocky was largely not about boxing, Creed definitely is about the sport, the underdog narrative begins early and permeates the film, tying in directly to its most prominent topics of ambition and familial legacy. Creed covets the title for different reasons than Rocky did, and this directly impacts the tone, rendering Creed much more upbeat than the original film. The melancholy that defined Rocky only appears in bursts here, but where it arises, it strikes hard. The emotional high points of the film are every bit as potent as its predecessor, even if they're in service of a more tonally diverse film.
Until midway through the second act, it's that ambition which is most promient in Creed. Whereas Rocky took on the championship from the bottom, Adonis comes from a place of education, a place where he might have led a safer life. However, he feels, deep down, that fighting is his calling, and his rise through the ranks displays an inspiring level of dedication. At its core, this is the same simple underdog story which was so beautifully crafted in Rocky, but here it's as wonderful and exciting as ever. There's a little more to it than that, however. Even in the rising action of the film's first half, Adonis' ambition is contrasted with the potential dangers of the ring, and his ultimate conflict is continuing to pursue his passion in spite of the reasons why he shouldn't. Although his backstory is skimmed over a bit too quickly, it's more than enough to provide a base for why he continues forward even knowing the danger.
It's in the second half that the real emotional weight of the film comes in, as one mid-film plot development brings the melancholy which had until then hidden under the surface crashing into the spotlight. The character dynamics built up to this point transform into something much more potent, wringing real emotion out of the various nuanced touches and plot twists which come up throughout the film. Adonis' background and Rocky's age both become increasingly relevant, and they provide for some truly poignant scenes. One of them made me cry. These later plot developments lend themselves well to the film's most important dynamic: That between Adonis and Rocky, which is defined by the passing of the torch from the older boxer to the new generation. Adonis becomes the successor to both Rocky and his father, Apollo, and the growing bond between him and Rocky is ultimately both an emotional centrepiece of the film and the ultimate embodiment of Creed as the next generation.
Stylistically, Creed is urban and modern, feeling effortlessly of-the-time and existing cleanly amidst towers and fences. Coogler directs with energy and fills his scenes with determination. The feeling of every scene is extracted carefully through the combined efforts of the actors, direction and music, and allows the resonant simplicity of the script to really blossom through to the surface. The film's fight scenes, which are more frequent than in Rocky, are pulled in close to the boxers and electrifying in how the camera swirls around the ring while still following the action. Often, only a single boxer will be focused on, but the action will come across just as clearly as if the view encapsulated the whole stage. In the actual scenes of boxing, this energetic direction renders the fights utterly electrifying.
Creed isn't quite up to the standard set by Rocky, but that's far from an indictment. This is still an exciting, poignant, riveting sports drama which, though it may not have a new story to tell, contains so much emotion and ultimately heart that it's utterly irresistible. However necessary the revival of Balboa's story may have been, the execution is absolutely phenomenal, and in this moving, exciting, and ultimately rousing continuation, the franchise's legacy is upheld.
9/10
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