by Marc Lutz, Writer
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Attention boxing fans! Or movie fans, or Rocky fans. Creed has arrived in theaters! This is the latest installment in the Rocky line up, and let me tell you, it’s worth the cost of admission. Donny Johnson/Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has decided to take up boxing full time and travels from Hollywood, Ca. to Philadelphia, Pa to find a trainer. Who better to train with than the legendary Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone)?
This movie was very well done from bell to bell (pun intended). The flow of the movie followed pretty close to the first Rocky film, so for anyone who’s dipping their toes into the ring for the first time, it’s easy to follow along. The costuming is simple and fits the movie, the special effects and make-up are stellar, the boxing scenes are phenomenal, and the cinematography is absolutely top notch. Go see this movie!
This movie is absolutely about fighting. This movie has very little to do with boxing.
This entire film is about the fights we fight every day. It’s the battle within, our thoughts, our fears, the demons that gnaw at the edges of our confidence. It’s the fight against daily life, our pasts. It’s so much more than a boxing or a buddy movie.
Adonis Creed starts out as a youth in juvie, in a fight. It starts with Rocky plodding through his days, running the restaurant that carries his wife’s name. It starts with years of anger, regret, doubt, sadness, and hurt that’s buried deep within these two men that have no idea how much they really need each other.
Creed learns early that he’s the illegitimate son of boxing legend Apollo Creed, and decides to go through life as “Johnson” because “That’s not my name”. Though deep down he yearns to be like this man. Watching YouTube video’s of this legend on a projection tv, mirroring his movements, his style, his swagger – to teach himself how to box. He goes to Philly with no job, no plan, no options. All he knows is he wants to fight. What he doesn’t know is what he’s fighting against.
Balboa fighting with the grief and loss of his wife, the son that went away, the memories. The physical and mental pain of having been a professional fighter for so long. The guilt of not having stopped a fight that he knew he should have even though he made, and kept, a promise.
So they fight. They train and they fight, and they work, and they push each other. Rocky comes out of himself more and more, Creed learns more about who he is. Together, they fight for and earn the families that they craved. (Through the film, Adonis refers to Rocky as “Unc”.) They learn, the trust, they fight on. They battle together, and they overcome. They beat sadness and doubt, the battle for a sense of self that all of us fight for every day.
This movie has very little to do with boxing and everything to do with fighting. They’re the fights we all know we need to win. The fights we have to win. I don’t know who said it first – “The greatest things in life are worth fighting for.” They fought. They battled. They endured. Together.
Rating: 
ComicsOnline gives Creed 12 out of 12 rounds.
[contextly_auto_sidebar
