CREED — Movie Review
By John Argote Rodriguez
ROAD TO CREED II
SPOILERS!!!!!!!
“Creed” was released in November 25, 2015 and is the seventh film in the Rocky film series and stars Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, and Anthony Bellew with Wood Harris. This time around “Creed” is directed by Ryan Coogler.
After “Rocky Balboa” concluded the story of the Italian Stallion everyone assumed the Rocky franchise had come to an end and even Sylvester Stallone himself after he gave the title character a proper conclusion everyone was satisfied with, but nearly a decade later we have “Creed” which tells the story of Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) a young man who finally decides to follow his dreams of being a fighter, never knowing his father heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) who died thirty years prior to his birth from an affair seeks to make a name for himself and moves from Los Angeles to Philadelphia to get training from his fathers former rival turned friend; Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone).
I didn’t know what to to expect from “Creed”, after the great ending “Rocky Balboa” gave the character I wondered what could else could be done with the franchise at this point, the trailers were good and all, but I still didn’t know what to expect. Well damn, GODDAMN! “Creed” is absolutely brilliant so much so it kicks “Rocky Balboa” out of the water because this movie is not only a worth follow-up/sequel, it’s a phenomenal film.
After watching for the first time I was in complete aw at what I’d just seen, this movie reinvigorated this franchise and gave new life without making it feel like another typical Rocky movie and I’m going to give all the praise to Ryan Coogler whose direction is what made this movie the brilliant piece of art it is, his style and way of storytelling was powerful and inspiring. The way he brings out the performances in these actors were amazing which brings me to the two titans.
Michael B. Jordan as Adonis “Donnie” Creed and Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa. Jordan bring this emotional pain from the minute he’s introduced. This man was born without a father and his biological mother and who knows what happened to his half-siblings who’re never brought up, but Michael B. Jordan brilliantly conveys his inner struggles to make a name for himself and living in this world with a father figure that he comes to find in Rocky who was masterful in this movie, my God I would even argue this movie stolen from Jordan because this is a career best performance by Sylvester Stallone (so much so he was deservedly so nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 2016) who after seeing him in “Rocky Balboa” is a different place with everyone around him moving on while he’s left behind and all of a sudden this guy who turns out to be the son of Apollo Creed appears in his restaurant and he’s reluctantly sucked back into the world of fighting, but in doing so these two fill voids that are both missing in their lives.
Donnie sees Rocky as a father figure and Rocky as son and these two thrive off each other so well. It’s a beautiful relationship that they both fill because they need each other and it’s heartfelt and heartbreaking watching these two fight both physically and mentally and grow as characters.
“Creed” is the most emotional film of the series. The scene when Donnie finds out Rocky has cancer and is declining to take chemotherapy because he’d rather die knowing it means he’ll get to spend time with his wife — FUUUUUCK! I mean damn that was gut wrenching scene, you have this man saying he’d rather be dead and he’s okay with it and Donnie’s response was powerful leading to their confrontation at the holding cell — Guys as I’m writing this I’m getting goosebumps!
However the best scene is during the final round between Donnie and Conlan when Rocky spills his heart at Donnie for what his father did for him, but it’s nothing compared to what Donnie did in helping Rocky find his way and showing him how to fight and encouraging Donnie and telling him he’ll prevail because he’s a Creed followed by a fantastic blend of Bill Conti’s original score mixed with Ludwig Göransson’s masterpiece of a score— OH MY GOD! GUYS I’M NOT JOKING I LITERALLY HAVE GOOSEBUMPS AND MY EYES IS GETTING THE WATER WORKS!
While we’re on the topic of score let’s talk about Ludwig Göransson’s score. It’s complete perfection, that’s it it’s pure perfection. The original score that pays homage to the original while being its own thing was masterful. Ludwig Göransson gave a whole new level of life to the training montage which has become a staple of the Rocky franchise was given a whole new score in the form of Lord Knows / Fighting Stronger, that score is the definition of inspiration and determination. I swear I was getting some kind of adrenaline rush out of hearing this, though I can’t say it’s better than Gonna Fly Now that’s just to iconic to take down. Ever since I watched this movie I’ve been following Ludwig Göransson’s career, he’s one of the most gifted composers in Hollywood today.
The villain of the movie was okay, but that’s not a negative, he wasn’t the focal of the movie nor was Tessa Thompson as Bianca who was great in this movie, don’t get me wrong, but she was overshadowed by these force of talents in the form of Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone.
“Creed” is a fantastic movie, the best movie of 2015 in my opinion, however I will admit I haven’t seen “Mad Max: Fury Road” yet —
I know huh, but someday. Regardless of that “Creed” is an amazing movie full of heart, amazing performances, story, score, soundtrack, and it honors the Rocky franchise while being new blood and a fresh spin on it.
Grade: A+
Thank God Paulie’s gone🥳.
