Creed Review

I am a big fan of the Rocky movie series. I have enjoyed watching the evolving story of Rocky Balboa from starting out as a small-time boxer to a well-respected champion in the boxing community, through to retirement reminiscing about past glories to the customers and friends in the restaurant he owns. The series itself has been ongoing for over 40 years and still manages to feel new, fresh and exciting with every instalment released.

Today I will be reviewing the 2015 reboot/ continuation of the franchise Creed directed by Ryan Coogler. The film centres around Adonis the illegitimate son of boxer Apollo Creed played by Michael B. Jordan, who is adopted by Apollo’s widow Mary Ann played by Phylicia Rashad. One day Adonis tells Mary Ann that he wants to become a boxer like his father, but Mary would not support him fearing that what happened to her husband would happen again. He moves away to follow his ambition, eventually persuading Rocky to train him. Adonis then wins his first fight and signs up for his second fight with the champion Ricky Conlan played by Tony Bellew. After months of training Adonis is ready to fight against Conlan.

The film's director is Ryan Coogler, before this movie Coogler was not a very well-known director, he had only done one feature-length film and a few shorts. So, stepping into a huge franchise such as Rocky is a pretty big step. Regardless, Coogler took to the challenge and came up with a film that not only drove the series into a new direction but took time to pay homage to the films that came before.

The films cast was important with old faces such as Sylvester Stallone reprising the role as Rocky Balboa and Mary Ann Creed played by Phylicia Rashad along with new arrivals   Adonis Creed played by Michael B. Jordan and his girlfriend Bianca played by Tessa Thompson. These two characters were good additions to this ongoing franchise as they reflect Rocky and his future wife Adrian from the first movie as Adonis’s and Bianca’s relationship is similar to Rocky and Adrian’s they both feel like outsiders who get to know each other as the story progresses.

Technically the film mainly has mid-shots and close-ups in its camerawork with occasional shaky cams and a continuous mid- shot near the start of the third act, the boxing match in the ring is mainly mid-close-ups of the character making you feel part of the action as you see every punch close up. The film's lighting is low key giving it a more grounded and realistic tone.

The film's soundtrack was composed by Ludwig Göransson, who would later compose the score for Black Panther which was also directed by Ryan Coogler. The soundtrack celebrates the old and the new with new tracks and themes for the new characters, with renditions of tracks from the original Rocky soundtrack composed by Bill Conti.

Overall, Creed is a good addition to this long and ongoing franchise which has no sign of stopping. The film is well written with new additions that will hopefully be remembered for years to come just like the original characters are today.

I would give Creed an 8/10- A good continuation of the franchise which will lead the series into a new direction for years to come.

The sequel Creed II is currently playing in cinemas, I have not seen it yet but look out for my review when I do see the film.