Creed – Movie Review

Creed – PG-13
Release Date: Wed 25 Nov 2015

Creed is a spinoff/sequel of the long-running Rocky franchise. Sylvester Stallone returns as an elderly Rocky Balboa to train Apollo Creed’s bastard son Adonis (Michael B. Jordan.)

Jordan and Stallone do a great job with their characters. They are flawed, intriguing characters. The cinematography uses a lot of high contrast shots and makes Philadelphia feel like a real, lived-in place.

I should not have expected different, but I was disappointed in the boxing itself. Creed, like the Rocky movies before it morphs boxing into a video game. Gloves are never up, and so many head punches connect it’s hard to take it seriously or even keep up with who the movie believes is winning at any given time. Thankfully there’s a sportscaster voice to tell you how what’s happening on the screen translates to a “big round” versus a “disappointing round” for a fighter.

And in the end, if you’re a fan of the Rocky movies (particularly the original) you are likely to be a fan of Creed as well. The stories and performances are great, but the fights require a pretty high level of disassociation from real-life boxing.

Ben, Aaron, Cal and I saw it in the theater and had a discussion in the car: