Creed

There are many original films Hollywood has graced us with since the beginning of films themselves, but since the last 3 to 4 decades back, this same community has realized that there is a ton of money to be made with as little work involved in expanding a film into a sequel or sequels. As these sequels have grown, film franchises have blossomed from them. We've seen a plethora of franchises, but I think one of the oldest franchises is that of the "Rocky" one dating back to 1976. There's been "Rocky" and "Rocky II, III, IV, V and VI" and even "Rocky Balboa". As a new audience emerges, the producers, as well as Sylvester Stallone felt we needed another film to add to the franchise in the form of "Creed".

Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) is the son of the infamous boxing champion Apollo Creed, who died in a boxing match in "Rocky IV" (1985). Adonis wasn't born until after his father's death and, after struggling with anger of his father and living in his shadow, wants to follow in his father's footsteps in boxing. He ends up seeking a mentor to train him, so since he realized that his father was a former friend of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), Rocky reluctantly agrees to mentor Adonis. With Rocky's help along with Pete Sporino (Ritchie Coster), Stich (Jacob 'Stitch' Duran) and emotional support from his girlfriend, Bianca (Tessa Thompson), they hope to get a title job to face even deadlier opponents than his father. But whether he is a true fighter remains to be seen.

Others to round out the cast are Phylicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed, Andre Ward as Danny 'Stuntman' Wheeler, Tony Bellew as 'Pretty' Ricky Conlan, Graham McTavish as Tommy Holiday, Conlan's trainer, Malik Bazille as Amir, Gabe Rosado as Leo 'The Lion' Sporino) Wood Harris as Tony 'Little Duke' Burton and Rupal Pujara as Dr. Kathari.

Where does Hollywood get these new up and coming filmmakers? I ask this this because This was powerfully directed by Ryan Coogler ("Fruitvale Station" '13) plus shorts. This director will go places considering the directing quality of this and "Fruitvale Station". He really knows how to emit the right intense emotions out of his actors, and since he worked with Jordan in "Fruitvale Station" as well as this, this had to make this much easier to accomplish--not to mention that Jordan is a very accomplished actor himself. It is equally well written by virtual newcomers, Coogler and Aaron Covington based on a story by Coogler which is based on characters created by Sylvester Stallone. What interests me is that these newer writers are so much more talented than their comedy writing counterparts. I suspect the reason for this is that the genre of comedy is actually more difficult to write, because this writer has to convey something that not only is funny, but also has to be delivered in a comedic way, and this is definitely easier said than done. Hollywood needs to work on obtaining better comedy writers, so maybe, just maybe, a comedy can possibly be nominated more often come Oscar time. Trust me, this wasn't without issues--it got a little bogged down in sentimentality especially nearing the end and was a bit choppy in some places, but not enough to realize that this was definitely so much better than I ever thought it would be. Can you say, "Creed 2"?

Obviously if you're a "Rocky" fan, you'll be in boxing heaven, but even if you're not a "Rocky" fan, which I'm not in particular, this still has a lot to say about fear, anger, drive and redemption all with a boxing backdrop. Even Stallone was solid in his performance, but he could definitely portray this role in his sleep.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                  Rated: PG-13                                133mins.