CREED (Ryan Coogler). Opens Friday (November 27). 129 minutes. See listings. Rating: NNNNWin a copy of CREED on Blu-ray™ Combo here!
Don’t think of Creed as Rocky VII. Think of it as an addition to the house Balboa built.
Fruitvale Station writer/director Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan reunite for a story about Apollo Creed’s illegitimate son Adonis, a kid with all the advantages who still wants to follow in the footsteps of the father he never knew.
The driven Donnie moves from L.A. to Philadelphia to train with his dad’s best friend (you know, that Rocky guy) and make his way toward a championship bout that’ll make him or break him.
But as soon as Sylvester Stallone turns up as the older, sadder Rocky, the movie becomes something a lot deeper: Rocky and Donnie’s father-son relationship pulls on muscles Stallone almost never works, and Jordan’s a terrific scene partner. (Dear White People’s Tessa Thompson, as Donnie’s unlikely love interest, is pretty great, too.)
Coogler and co-writer Aaron Covington keep the legacy of the Rocky franchise at a distance, the way Donnie himself would: it’s history, stories he’s heard or read. And that’s exactly the right approach, since Donnie’s carving out new ground within that world.
As a result, Creed gets to fight its own fight, one punch at a time. It’s a hell of an underdog.
