The Franchise Fights On: A Review of Creed

Written by Emmanuel Gundran

Rocky employs similar "exercises" to his own trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith).

Creed (Coogler 2015) is the latest entry in the Rocky franchise that follows the son of the main character, Rocky Balboa's, rival Apollo Creed who wants to make a name for himself in the boxing world. Adonis "Donnie" Creed (Michael B. Jordan) grew up never knowing his boxing champion father Apollo, who died in the ring before Donnie was born. He decides to move from California to Philadelphia, home of the famous Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), to have Rocky train him to take on the undefeated champion "Pretty" Ricky Conlan (Tony Bellew). While Donnie trains in Philly, he meets his next-door apartment neighbor and music performer Bianca (Tessa Thompson) who he falls in love with and supports as she continues to make music until her progressive hearing loss takes its full toll. Creed is not only a classic tale of the underdog fighting against all odds like the original Rocky (Avildsen 1976) but also one of inheriting and owning a legacy.

This film achieves being a great drama and a fitting continuation of the Rocky franchise. Creed follows a lot of similar beats to the original 1976 Rocky (Avildsen): they both start with the main character, Rocky/Donnie, living in obscurity and wanting to take on the undefeated boxing champion Rocky/Donnie seeks out the help of a reluctant former boxer to train to fight the champion, the champion seeks out the rising star, Rocky/Donnie, based on their name, and both films lead to a climactic match between the two boxers that ends with a moving speech from Rocky/Donnie. Creed makes itself a different film from Rocky, however, by continuing the story and legacy of Rocky Balboa. Longtime fans of the Rocky films will notice references to Adrian (Talia Shire), Rocky's wife who he met at a pet store, her brother and Rocky's best friend and roommate Paulie Pennino (Burt Young), and even a fun reference to a certain chicken-chasing scene from Rocky II (Stallone 1979). Most importantly though, Rocky doesn't serve only as a mentor to move Donnie forward in his career, as Rocky struggles with no longer living with the people he's loved for so long and deciding whether to fight Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma or die in peace.

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Sylvester Stallone was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for playing the aging Rocky Balboa, who struggles with his loneliness and terminal illness.

Creed excels as a story of creating a legacy and planting seeds in a garden one never gets to see. All his life, Donnie has been anxious of being the son of famous boxer, Apollo Creed. He grew up in an environment separated from both of his birth-parents. Apollo died in the ring (as was portrayed in Rocky IV (Stallone 1985)), and Donnie's unknown mother, who bore Donnie illegitimately, died shortly afterward. Apollo never realized the impact that he would have on his son's life, but because of the neglect that Donnie had throughout his life, Donnie hides his last name under a pseudonym, "Johnson." However, when his parentage is leaked out to the press, he decides to finally own his family's legacy while proving to the world that he has potential apart from his famous name. Even Donnie's stepmother and Apollo's widow, Mary Anne, supports Donnie's decision to take on the "Creed" name by restitching Apollo's old boxing shorts with the names "Creed" and "Johnson" on the front and back respectively. This is a great moment in the film, as it symbolizes the name that Donnie puts forward to the public and the person he really is behind the fame of being a Creed. With the continuation of the Rocky franchise and themes of making a name for oneself while respecting the legacy of the past, Creed definitely worth checking out for Rocky and film fans alike.