Review: Creed (2015)

Director Ryan Coogler reinvigorates the beloved Rocky franchise with this unabashedly populist and inspiring film, which manages to not only provide a wonderfully respectful and heartfelt farewell to Rocky himself, but also provide us with a new name to root for in that of Adonis Creed.

Coogler proves to have an incredible visual eye in this, his second film. Often allowing his camera to follow his actors in complex tracking shots, he directs the film with a subtle, yet identifiable style that allows the audience to be steadily taken in by the film's narrative. He also infuses the film with a sense of everyman triumph and invigoration, editing it together with an electic mix of original Hip-Hop tracks and Ludwig Göransson's score, which recreates the spirit of Bill Conti's original score, without feeling unnecessarily beholden to it.

But the real show stopper is an astoundingly choreographed 5 minute long single shot of a boxing match, where the camera follows Adonis and Rocky into the ring, and then spends the next 3 minutes artfully dancing around the ring, keeping the fighters in perfect focus the entire time, and providing one of the most original and immersive cinematic interpretations of a boxing match I've ever seen.

Michael B. Jordan does an excellent job with the character of Adonis Creed, Apollo Creed's illegitimate son determined to make a name for himself on his own merits, while coming to terms with his father's legacy. Naturally gifted with a swagger and self confidence, Jordan's performance here manages to take a character who is very self assured and confident, and yet still keep him relatable and vulnerable. His father-son dynamic with Sylvester Stallone is organic and subtle, yet immediately noticeable and emotive, and his romantic relationship with Tessa Thompson's Bianca is a natural progression of his story, and their chemistry is natural and likable.

Slyvester Stallone once more takes up the well worn, yet eternally lovable character of Rocky Balboa, and in doing so, turns in a truly inspired performance. His trademark gentle friendliness and likability now transformed into a weathered, fatherly aura of maturity, Stallone's performance is multi-layered and incredibly subtle, and a true showcase of his acting skills. His interactions with Jordan are organic, and one can really feel the sense of pride and fatherly love Rocky has for Adonis that grows over the course of the story.

The rest of the cast, including the aforementioned Tessa Thompson and the eternally elegant Phylicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed, Apollo's widow, all turn in top notch performances that exhibit a naturalism and subtly that is always welcome. Coupled with this film's unabashed celebration of the legacy of both Balboa and Creed, and the intuitively cathartic nature of boxing as a sport, and you have a film that not only manages to be a worthy sequel to a truly legendary film, but also a film able to stand entirely on it's own merits, filled with the triumph of the human spirit, and the power of family.

I legitimately cried tears of joy at the end.

5 out of 5 stars.