CREED

Creed is an echo. It’s a call back to every other Rocky movie, and while it's good, it can't create separation from the powerful legacy of the Rocky series.
Despite the obvious name change, Creed is really just Rocky 7. And that’s OK. We are back in Philadelphia, on the ragged blue-collar streets and in the sweat-soaked gyms of Sylvester Stallone’s first boxing drama (the one that earned three Oscars, including a well-deserved Best Picture win). Stallone, himself, is back in his signature role for a seventh time, adding layers to his timeless palooka and evolving him for a new decade. No one understands Rocky more than Stallone, and the actor finds fresh quirks to animate. I didn’t think that I needed more time with the character after the 2006 Rocky Balboa (which gave Balboa a fitting farewell, and a near-perfect final scene), but I also didn’t regret the extra time and the additional window that Creed provided. It’s nice to see Rocky again.
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But this isn’t Rocky 7. It’s Creed, and the title hints at the creative changes that have occurred, not all for the best. Rocky’s a supporting player, but this isn’t his story. Or, it isn’t supposed to be. Instead, writer-director Ryan Coogler and his Fruitvale Station lead, Michael B. Jordan, appealed to Stallone to let them take a back door into this franchise, telling the story of Adonis, the son of Rocky’s first opponent, Apollo Creed. The idea has promise, and this approach is preferred over a straight (and lazy) remake of Stallone’s 1976 drama. By choosing a continuation, this also allows Stallone to stay in the story, and graduate to the salty mentor role that Burgess Meredith held for the first three Rocky movies. However, Rocky’s presence in Creed is both a welcome gesture and a distraction, and one that kept taking me out of Jordan’s story. That can’t be the desired effect.

You see, Creed is an echo. It’s a call back, at least in Adonis’ boxing storyline, to dramatic steps that Stallone already walked in the shoes of this character, through the lanes of this franchise. Underdog boxer who fights to earn respect? Check. Will he eventually face an allegedly unbeatable champion? Believe it. Are there training montages under the tutelage of a crusty but seasoned manager? It’s all too familiar. Through no real fault of Jordan – or Coogler, for that matter -- Creed can’t create separation from the powerful legacy of the Rocky series. In much the same way that Adonis is constantly measured against the accomplishments of his father, Apollo Creed, Creed is constantly compared to the actions of the previous Rocky movies. And there’s only so much that you can try that hasn’t already been done in six previous movies

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