Creed By: Henry Seyue

Dir: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Michael B. Jordan (creed), Sylvester Stallone (Rocky), Tessa Thompson (Bianca)
Prod: New Line cinema, 2015


Creed is the latest installment, and apparent reboot, of the critically acclaimed "Rocky" franchise. Ryan Coogler leads as the films director, which is a change from the combined 6 films directed by either David Advilsen or Sylvester Stallone. With that being said, Coogler undoubtedly had big shoes to fill, and although Creed may fall short in some areas, I think it is still worthy of being wholeheartedly accepted into the franchise.

Creed does a wonderful job in recreating the original rocky story line and plays with some familiar themes. Adonis and Rocky start off having a relationship much like Rocky and Micky once had. Adonis is a hungry, sloppy contender who sees Rocky as more than a trainer, he see's him as family. Rocky however is reluctant to commit to Adonis in this way, much like Micky when Rocky was in the dawn of his career. Many other important themes from past rocky films are consistent in Creed, but sadly others are left out. Important themes like poverty, religious undertone, and the American dream are left out. It is clear that Creed is poor for a total of maybe 5 minutes of the film before being adopted into the posthumous wealth of his father. The film then desperately attempts to make Adonis poor again for the sake of continuing the theme of poverty that exist throughout the rocky franchise. Others may not see a problem with this but personally it gets under my skin knowing that Adonis is abandoning a million dollar home and a good paying job to become a boxer, his "poverty" isn't genuine.This beginning doesn't Serve justice to the theme of the American Dream because no part of that dream includes choosing poverty over wealth because of ego. That might be this films most major flaw, Creed is fueled by pure ego. In no other Rocky film is ego a driving factor in any of Rocky's actions, making Creed's mere motivation a major set back in the quality of the film. On top of this there are some moments in the film when it feels like Coogler is trying a little too hard to nod at the the original Rocky. Having creed chase chickens, and run through Philly like Rocky did just makes me feel like I'm watching the original Rocky film— so why not  just watch the original Rocky film?  I definitely appreciate his attempts to pay homage to the Advilsen adaptation, but I just think for a reboot, it has to be done more subtly. The little things like having creed wear a sweater with the quote "Why do You fight?.. Because I can't sing or dance" is a perfect example of this. There's beauty in simplicity, you don't have to recreate the whole "gonna fly now" training montage for viewers to see the connection your trying make. With that being said there's a couple other nods to the original Rocky sprinkled through the film like easter eggs, that's how it should be, I think the film is just weighed down a little by a plethora of cringy replicated scenes.

I don't want to drag Creed too much because overall all I think it's a pretty solid film and I would actually go as far as saying it's the best Rocky film to come out this millennium. As a matter of fact I might even entertain a conversation on whether or not its better than Rocky 5, which I consider the last "real" Rocky film. With that being said I would give this film a 6.5/10 and recommend it to anyone in my age group. I usually wouldn't suggest watching a franchise backwords, but I feel like Creed has the type of appeal that might make somebody want to see what came before it.