Creed

Mock the series all you want for often straying into hokey schmaltz and not throwing in the towel after nearly 40 years and now seven movies. But there’s no denying the Rocky formula works. Maybe a little too well. It’s so effective that it’s defined the uplifting underdog genre almost completely. Short of going the completely downbeat and unsentimental Raging Bull route, just about every fight film inevitably draws comparison to the series and gets stuck in its shadow. 

Creed certainly tries to break away, despite continuing the Rocky mythology and featuring Sylvester Stallone’s most famous character. There are only snippets from the famous theme, the film instead opting for a more hip-hop-infused soundtrack. Director Ryan Coogler eschews the series’ cheesy montage style for a naturalistic and unadorned aesthetic (similar to his fantastic, tragic Fruitvale Station), even during his own montages. It’s a cogent take on the material, no doubt, but it’s still the same material underneath it all. While that doesn’t suck a bit of enjoyment from the whole thing, this movie’s decidedly not the mold-breaker it's trying to be.

The film stars Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Johnson, the illegitimate son of Carl Weathers’ deceased champ Apollo Creed. Taken in from the juvenile system and raised by Apollo’s widow (Phylicia Rashad), “Donnie” has a regular job in finance and a presumably decent existence. But in spite of this, the young man possesses the need to fight, taking part in underground boxing matches in Mexico in his free time. With no one else taking his pursuit seriously, he travels from Los Angeles to Philadelphia to convince the retired, lonely Rocky Balboa to train him.

Jordan has a strong charisma, convincing as a physical specimen and hinting at a determined rage that drives him. Unfortunately, the movie never takes the step into grittier or moodier territory, despite looking like it will several times. It’s like the picture’s playing it safe, avoiding too far a deviation from the mass appeal feel-good path instead of challenging the audience. The lack of more intense story turns isn’t bad, but it frankly makes a few scenes where Jordan’s anger boils over seem out of place and a little forced.

He’s much better, however, with one of the hallmarks of the franchise's best entries. Before the series turned into a montage and cliché factory (and its own formula became cliché) in the 1980s, the earliest installments took plenty of time away from the ring and the gyms. Following the characters in their daily lives, these scenes showed that they’re real people, not invincible Hollywood heroes (even though Rocky Balboa would eventually become just that). This made the outcomes even more inspiring because it underlined the underdog element. Creed features such scenes, as Rocky, Donnie, and his musician neighbor played by Tessa Thompson form a little family unit. Here, Jordan is a natural, sweet, funny, and vulnerable depending on the moment.

It’s also here that Stallone shines in his best role in a while. Far from the heroic, chiseled warrior from the old movies (or even the great-for-his-age shape of Rocky Balboa nine years ago), this Rocky is a man broken by both physical trauma and his losses in life, only his spirit and pride holding him together. And try as he might, he’s not good at hiding his anguish. It’s a masterful display of subtlety, transmitting heavy emotions with simple physicality or mumbly mashes of monologue, the latter of which are played much less for humor than they were before. As with Jordan, this element of the film never quite goes as far as it could (this is Rocky, after all, so it's probably foolish to expect anything but a happy ending), but it’s nonetheless quite affecting.

So, it’s an average Rocky movie. But then again, it is a Rocky movie. I mean, have you seen any of these things? Even when they’re bad (and the series sank pretty low with IV and V), it’s simply not possible to sit through a whole one of them without getting caught up in everything. Even if you don’t want to admit it outwardly, you know you’re cheering on the inside during the fights.

In fact, that’s one area where Creed is above average, with two bouts that are standouts in the series. One is a splendid long take that gets us inches from the fighters while also managing to catch every element in the area, from the corner men to the crowd reaction. And the main event, pitting Jordan against real boxer Tony Bellew, condenses a 12-round fight into a manageable movie sequence without resorting to a tired montage. Rather, it’s superbly cut and edited as a continuous and thrilling battle, never missing a beat between rounds or when it’s time for the given inspirational moment, and not once giving viewers the feeling that even a single punch has been skipped over. Both fights are terrific, and also more realistic and bloody than anything previously seen in any Rocky. If only the rest of the picture had that same grit.