Previously on the ROCKY saga— Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is a small-time boxer who seems to be going nowhere in life, as he works day-in and day-out as a collector for a loan shark and fights in sleazy clubs for low pay. Because of this Rocky is labeled a bum by the neighborhood, especially by gym trainer Mickey Goldmill. At the same time, Rocky successfully courts Adrian Pennino, a painfully shy woman with an alcoholic brother, Paulie. Rocky’s future changes when heavyweight champion of the world Apollo Creed chooses Rocky at random as his opponent in a title fight. Rocky realizes he now has the chance to prove he is not a bum. Rocky fights for his self-respect but ends up losing the fight in a split decision.
A year later Creed, who faced criticism due to the near loss, taunts Rocky through publicity into a rematch, for which Rocky trains once again with Mickey. In the fifteenth round, Rocky knocks Creed to the ground, falling to the ground himself in the process. Both fighters struggle to get to their feet, but only Rocky is successful. For the first time, Rocky is declared the Heavyweight Champion of the World. A few years later Mickey suffers a heart attack before a fight and Rocky, who is obviously distracted, is knocked out. Mickey passes away after the fight. Apollo steps in to train Rocky to fight more in Apollo’s old style and to get his “eye of the tiger” back. In the rematch, Rocky outboxes his opponent, tiring the stronger fighter out and eventually knocking him out in the third round. After the fight, Apollo calls in a “favor” for training Rocky, which is a one-on-one match between the two of them with no cameras, no media, just man vs. man in the gym.
A few years later Rocky, now semi-retired, is challenged by a Russian fighter but Apollo fights instead and is killed in the ring. Rocky could have prevented this by stopping the fight but does not due Apollo not wanting it done. Rocky later fights the Russian and defeats him. Later Rocky is diagnosed with brain damage and is forced to retire from the ring. Additionally, the Balboa fortune is all gone due to an unscrupulous accountant. Rocky’s family returns to their old neighborhood with Adrian returning to the pet store she used to work and Rocky re-opening Mickey’s old gym. Sixteen years go by and long retired Rocky’s world has changed world; his son is grown and distant and Adrian has died. Rocky has opened a restaurant, named after his wife, which he stocks with mementos of his prime and tells his old fight stories to the customers. But when a computer simulated fight on ESPN depicting a bout between a young Rocky and the current champion reignites interest in the faded boxer, Rocky discovers he has not lost his fighting spirit and considers an opportunity to prove himself in the ring again. Rocky holds his own in the ring but loses to a split decision just like the first film.
The Rocky Saga has been told with nice bow of completion with the 2006 film ROCKY BALBOA. However you can’t keep a good series down and Rocky is back with the latest installment CREED and this time he is mentoring the son of his former opponent turned best friend the late Apollo Creed.
Adonis Johnson (Michael B Jordan) never knew his famous father, world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, who died before he was born. However boxing is in his blood and Adonis heads to Philadelphia to track Rocky down and asks him to be his trainer. Despite his insistence that he is out of the fight game for good, Rocky sees in Adonis the strength and determination he had known in Apollo. Agreeing to take him on, Rocky trains Adonis he gets his own shot at the title.
This is the first film in which the Rocky character appears that Stallone did not either write or direct. But the Rocky that is present in this film is the same character we know and love. Just older, wiser but still a little dim-witted. That is what has made this character endearing for so many years. The one fault I do have with the film is the origins of the Adonis character. When I first heard of this project I wondered how they were going to make this work. The point is made that Adonis was born after his father died and I questioned why wasn’t Apollo’s wife pregnant in ROCKY IV when Apollo died. Well the filmmakers address that issue by having Adonis be the illegitimate child of Apollo with one of the many women that he had an affair with around the time he of his death. That would make Apollo a womanizer; though to the best of my knowledge of the first 4 films no evidence of this exists. Despite learning of this news, Rocky does not seem to be the surprised at all. Did Rocky know this? Small quibble but given the history of these characters that we care about better writing could have been used concerning this aspect. He bounced around from foster home to foster home in L.A before he was adopted by Apollo’s widow.
Despite never meeting his father, Adonis is his father’s son sharing the boastful cockiness of Apollo. However he still keeps the fact that he is Apollo’s son a secret because he does not want to live in his father’s shadow which is an incredible burden. He has always struggled with his sense of identity, not knowing his dad growing up and losing his mom.. He bounced around from foster home to foster home in L.A., and wound up in some not-so-good places before he was adopted by Apollo’s widow. Michael B Jordon has been on my radar since his excellent performance in the Coogler directed FRUITVALE STATION. Not many saw that film and unfortunately the film audiences did see him in was the disastrous FANTASTIC FOUR from earlier this year. This film should give him the acclaim and notice that he deserves. He is excellent in his acting and boxing scenes. He is a true star. Equally as good is Tessa Thompson as Bianca a local singer-songwriter who becomes involved with Adonis. Bianca is a very strong, independent woman with her own goals, her own morals. In both Adonis and Bianca, you see two people who really like each other, but who are trying to figure out their own paths, and the dedication that takes. The actors have great chemistry together and if there are future installments it will be interesting to see where this relationship goes. She is a fresh face to me and this film could be a springboard for future film roles.
Make no mistake CREED is a formulaic film. That does not mean that a formulaic film cannot be entertaining. Let’s be clear, although the main character is now Apollo’s son this is still a Rocky film and it follows the blueprint that has been established since ROCKY II way back in 1979. What make the formula work are the characters of Adonis, Rocky and Bianca. The series has now come full circle with Adonis now in the Rocky role, Bianca in the Adrian role and Rocky now in the Mickey role as a father figure for Adonis Fans of the series will recognize the parallels between this film and the first installment with an underdog fighter who must overcome the odds to win, motivational speeches, the woman who believes the hero, and training/fight montages of some sort. The film takes inspiration from ROCKY III (Rocky and Apollo training together) and ROCKY V (Rocky training a younger boxer). There is one spectacular fight sequence that shows in round of a fight in a continuous unbroken shot. Credit goes to director Ryan Coogler for staging and pulling off this sequence. I was pleasantly surprised with this film and believe fans of the series will enjoy it and should bring a new legion of fans to the Rocky Saga. As a standalone film CREED is a knockout.
FINAL SCORE
ROCKY 4 STARS
ROCKY II 3.5 STAR
ROCKY III 3.5 STARS
ROCKY IV 2.5 STARS
ROCKY V 1 STAR
ROCKY BALBOA 3.5 STARS
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