Moviereview
What a clever repurposing of a famous character. A movie icon, still played by the same actor, usually doesn’t get the freshening Sylvester Stallone gives Rocky Balboa in “Creed” — a smart, entertaining extension of one of screen history’s most famous franchises. The 2015 drama that started its own series will be presented Sunday, June 23, on MGM+.
The title “Creed” suggests the main relationship that involves another boxer: Adonis Johnson, the illegitimate son of Rocky’s old rival and eventual comrade, Apollo Creed (who was portrayed, unforgettably, by the late Carl Weathers). The younger man, well-played by Michael B. Jordan (reunited with “Fruitvale Station” filmmaker Ryan Coogler), also wants to be in the fight game ... despite the upper-class life his family is trying to shoehorn him into.
He bolts and heads for Philadelphia, and you can guess who he wants to train him. Like Rocky did, the young Creed eventually gets a one-in-a-million shot, his being against a British champ ... and the cinematography in the fight sequences (by Maryse Alberti) is really energetic and thrilling.
So is watching Stallone embrace his inner Rocky fully again. After “Rocky III,” he seemed to be on auto-pilot with the role. However, having handed it over to a different director and writers (which couldn’t have been an easy decision for him at the time, since the Oscar-earning Rocky character was completely his brainchild), he seems eager for the challenge, and it’s a pleasure to watch.
In fact, “Creed” is smartly cast right down the line. As she has in her stage work, Phylicia Rashad affirms how much she can do beyond “The Cosby Show’s”
Clair Huxtable as Adonis’ maternal figure, and Tessa Thompson (“Selma”) also impresses as his vocally gifted new love. As the principal rival in the ring, engaging in his last fight before heading to prison, Anthony Bellew is properly imposing.
Such relatively tired entries as “Rocky V” (which even brought Burgess Meredith’s Mickey back as sort of a ghost) would make skepticism about another chapter understandable, but it’s great that “Creed” is much more than “Rocky Revisited.” Which isn’t to say it doesn’t include echoes that date back all the way to the first film almost 50 (!) years ago.
With a long-running series, there’s always a danger of going to the well once too often, which it seemed “Rocky” already had ... but “Creed” genuinely is a knockout, to the extent of powering two sequels of its own afterward (with a third currently in the works).