Creed Knocks Out the Box Office
Creed is the seventh movie in the Rocky franchise, and is a movie well worth seeing. Unlike many sequels that have come out this year, Creed lives up to the legend that is the Rocky franchise. The last Rocky movie, Rocky Balboa came out in 2006.
Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) is Apollo Creed’s son who is looking to make a name for himself without associating himself with the Creed legacy. The movie follows Adonis as he quits his high-paying job to fight professionally. Adonis seeks out Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), and finally convinces him to train him for his pro fights. This is where the real story begins. With subtle, but noticeable comedic overtones, the movie stays serious, but at the same time allows for a laugh.
The boxing scenes are explosive, gritty, and violent. Excellent cinematography captures each and every punch. At times, it almost looks like the view is the boxer as they switch into the first person view. The camera is placed so that every drop of blood falling from these modern day gladiators is caught.
Sylvester Stallone plays his character as he is meant to be played: an aging man who doesn’t really have a purpose to keep going. However, when he meets Adonis, he suddenly has a reason to continue. He trains Adonis in the art of boxing everywhere, from the sidestreets of Philadelphia to Rocky’s hospital bed. Adonis is always focused getting better.
Michael Jordan plays Adonis like he was born for the role. He brings a pugnacity and energy seldom seen in combat sports movies. Adonis is an up and coming boxer who fights under the name Johnson rather than Creed. He does this because he wants to make his own legacy and not have it defined by his father’s name. Towards the end of the movie, however, Adonis begins to wear his father’s name with pride.
The storyline is excellent. It follows a basic, almost a banality, storyline, but suddenly there are twists and turns. Obstacles are thrown in front of Adonis and Rocky with blinding speed, hitting them, like an unexpected shot to the liver, very hard and with blinding speed. But they always seem to bounce back. Viewers will feel connections with the characters, even if they themselves are not the gladiators of today. Rocky’s aging condition will pull on the heartstrings of people with older relatives. Adonis’ rollercoaster relationship with Tessa, his girlfriend will make anyone who has been in a relationship look back at theirs. However, scenes where Rocky learns about phone’s storage clouds, or his impromptu dancing will draw a chuckle from even the most grizzled person.
Despite this movie being made almost 40 years after the first Rocky movie, Creed ties many things into the first movie. Just like Rocky, Adonis runs up the stairs in victory. The music is inspirational just like the first Rocky. In fact, towards the end, the movie producers even remixed Rocky’s Gonna Fly Now by Bill Conti. This movie is well worth the $12.50.