Adonis Johnson Creed,played by Michael B. Jordan, combats an intense battle of using his last name as a ‘legacy’ to achieve his dream of being a professional boxer.
Creed is 2 hours and 13 minutes of action, drama and emotion. Think unexpected, fierce and powerful fights full of suspense, a touch of romance and a unique bond between a young determined boxer and his father’s old friend and rival.
It’s the seventh Rocky film, which is simultaneously a spin off to the original films and a sequel to the 2006 film Rocky Balboa.
Sylvester Stallone returns to his role as Rocky Balboa, Tessa Thomson as Bianca who plays the love interest of Adonis, Tony Bellew who plays one of Adonis’ opponents in the ring called Ricky Conlan and Phylicia Rashad who plays Mary Anne, Adonis’ father’s ex wife. She’s more like a mother to him and you feel that connection when watching the film. Even typing that felt strange.
My biggest confession when writing this is that I have not seen ANY of the other Rocky films. Unreal, I know. I can’t even really justify it, but after seeing how incredible Creed is, they are definitely on my watch list.
At the beginning, we see Adonis in a successful impressive job, but that’s taken away just moments later when he returns home to Marry Anne and begins obsessively watching YouTube videos of his father, Apollo Creed from his past boxing matches. He then makes the impulsive decision to travel to Philadelphia in a desperate mission to track down his father’s old friend and rival, Rocky Balboa.
Rocky is immediately dismissive and reluctant, but Adonis’ determination and enthusiasm wins him over and Rocky becomes Adonis’ mentor and trainer.
When he meets Bianca, we see a different side to Adonis. A more genuine and likeable side, when he tells her of his father, and she tells him of her physical struggles. A unique relationship is established between them and conveys the close ones that Adonis has in his corner.
Future feature on the films soundtrack with a track called ‘Last Breath’. It’s a decent rap song that lyrically represents the film. It also includes the iconic Rocky theme song. Definitely worth a listen. The full soundtrack is available on Spotify.
Check out the music video here:
SPOILER WARNING:
Adonis chooses to hide his true identity, as he doesn’t want the world knowing his background, he wants to ‘make it on his own,’ without having to live up to his father’s reputation. He even keeps this from Bianca. But this all changes when Adonis fights a local fighter, and wins. The media get attention of this and the secret is out – Adonis is Creed’s son.
When Rocky gets a phonecall from the manager of world light heavyweight champion “Pretty” Ricky Conlan, Adonis is faced with the decision of being Ricky’s final opponent, and accepting his name as Creed or not. Adonis is reluctant, but serious chats with Rocky and Bianca change his mind, and he agrees to the match.
While helping Adonis train for the big fight, Rocky learns of some concerning health issues. It’s a struggle for the both of them, but when Adonis tells Rocky ‘You fight, I fight’, it’s an offer he can’t refuse and they begin to help each other as best they can.
In the final scenes, Adonis fights Conlan at Conlan’s hometown in Liverpool. It’s a strong atmosphere even at the press conference the night before the fight and it definitely ends in the same way. In the ring, Conlan has the control for the most part, but from round 10 Adonis begins to show his real talent. Conlan wins the fight by a split decision, but it’s clear that Adonis ‘wins the night’. The crowd is electric with emotion and even Conlan begins to respect him. When speaking of the light heavyweight division, he tells Adonis that he is the future.
Creed was released on January 15th in the UK, directed by Ryan Coogler and written by Aaron Covington.
Featured photo via Warner Bros. press pack.
