Don’t take the title too seriously. For, if you have watched the ‘Rocky’ series, you’d agree that the Sylvester Stallone-Michael B Jordan starrer deserves to be called ‘Rocky 7’, but it is clearly the first film which hasn’t been written and directed by Sylvester Stallone.
The film’s focus remains strictly on Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan). The illegitimate son of Apollo Creed - Rocky's former opponent for the world heavyweight title who later turned friend – Adonis was orphaned when his father passed away in the ring – followed by the demise of his mother. Brought up in foster care, he isn’t aware of the details of his father till Creed's wife, Mary Anne (Phylicia Rashad), decides to raise him.
Even though he isn’t ignorant of the cause of his father’s death, Adonis is undeterred to become a fighter. Determined to take up boxing as a career option, Adonis finally makes up his mind to leave Los Angeles-based mansion to an apartment in Philadelphia which lacks both excitement and interest. Unaffected by where he is staying, he gears up to look for Rocky Balboa (Stallone) and starts fighting at Mighty Mick's Gym.
The aging Rocky, who even now works at the restaurant Adrian's, has reservations about training Creed, but decides to give his nod.
What makes ‘Creed’ effective is that it bears no resemblance to any of the previous ‘Rocky’ sequels. Unlike the sequels we all watched earlier, ‘Creed’ is neither non-sensical, nor does it work because it cashes in on the action hero image of Sylvester Stallone. The affability and the beauty of the first film was retained in 2006’s ‘Rocky Balboa’, and it returns with ‘Creed’.
Even though it isn’t a long movie, ‘Creed’ manages to focus on the personal lives of the main protagonist as it talks about their rigorous training sessions.
Michael B. Jordan as Donnie, is both engaging and convincing. He is truly a star. In sequences where he shares the screen space with Tessa Thompson (Bianca), he is effective. He isn’t too quick at expressing his reactions. So yes, all of this looks very real rather than rehearsed.
But one character that makes ‘Creed’ an absolute joy is Rocky. He is at calm. It is after a very long time that we have got to see Stallone play a character as different and valuable as the aging Rocky Balboa.
Comments
0 comment