Movie Review: Creed

With all the reboots, sequels, prequels, spin-offs and rip-offs Hollywood seems to be pumping out each year, it can be very easy to become jaded with film and wish for some new, original ideas. Hollywood’s main objective seems to be capitalizing on nostalgia, as most of the hit films over the past few years have been revitalizations of old franchises. Just this year alone, we have received a new Terminatormovie, a new Star Wars movie, a new Jurassic Park movie, a new Fantastic Four reboot, the sequel to The Avengers, a new Rocky movie, and Pixels, a film that attempts to incorporate games from the 1980s into a working narrative. The audience reception has been relatively hit-and-miss; some love the new films, others hate them for “ruining” their childhoods. On the contrary, there is one sequel that most seemed to receive warmly: Creed, the new entry into the Rocky franchise.

Rocky Balboa (famously portrayed by Sylvester Stallone, from the original movie

Creed follows Adonis Creed, the illegitimate son of Rocky Balboa’s most famous rival, Apollo Creed, on his journey to become a boxer. There is a catch: Adonis wishes to rise to the challenge without using his father’s legacy. He takes on a fake name, goes to Philadelphia to train and lives modestly, and seeks out Rocky to be his trainer. He also meets a woman named Bianca, a beautiful singer who is unfortunately going deaf, and they form a romantic relationship. All in all, this sounds very similar to the original Rocky, but it is through its main themes that Creed simultaneously separates itself from and lives up to its own prestigious name, much like Adonis himself.

Adonis Creed, played by newcomer Michael B. Jordan

The main idea of Creedis how legacy shapes and affects people, from the audience’s expectations to how a person feels under the ridiculous pressure to live up to their name. In fact, the film’s existence and Adonis’ character parallel each other perfectly, which makes sense. If the film were not under the Rocky franchise, people would have different expectations for it, much like how people’s expectations for Adonis do a volte-face once the public learns of his father, which is the opposite of what Adonis wishes for. He wants to create his own name for himself instead of simply using his father’s legacy to achieve his goals, just like the film Creedwants to establish itself as a good stand-alone film without solely relying on being part of the Rocky franchise.

The film’s main message actually turns out to be a compromise between the two: If you have a legacy, take advantage of it and be proud of it, but also establish yourself as a separate entity. This is what Adonis realizes at the end of the movie, as he eventually embraces his name but is able to prove his talent in boxing through his own efforts and passion. In a way, Creed is a film that most remakes or installations into franchises should look up to. Most of the creators of these films only use their legacy to rise to success, and do not try as hard to create fantastic movies. Creed, on the other hand, is an exercise in what every film in a franchise should be: a film that can stand on its own as a fantastic story, but is not afraid to express its pride to be part of the famous Rocky franchise.