This Rocky reboot offers a pretty good, if unremarkable, occasionally heavy-handed sports film with pros and cons, many of which echo characteristics of the modern blockbuster film business.
The plot was laid out in the first act so there wasn't enough tension in the story for me, but saying that there was enough going on at a good pace so it didn't feel overlong atall which is commendable. There was a strange tone to the Adonis Creed character. Michael B. Jordan does the physical part with no trouble atall of course but in terms of portraying the character it didn't feel organic - it's awkward to put into words but - it feels like you can see the writing in the performance, which is a shame. That may not be a fault of the actor as much as the writing, which does that modern blockbuster trait of squeezing in the minor human elements alongside those major ones that drive the action because the filmmakers think it's a requirement.
As an example, I honestly think the romantic plot line adds nothing, outside of adding to the argument for sequels. After meeting a girl (who just happens to be single, attractive, talented, straight talking, motivated and with obstacles to overcome) there is no question they will end up together - there's nothing inherently wrong about it being that obvious but their relationship isn't given enough care to play a crucial role in the character arc, making it seem like an after thought. She convinces him to accept his late father's name and not hide his past, something he also gets from Rocky anyway. So I think the film may play better without the token love interest as it serves little purpose other than widening the interest to a diverse audience, which almost always dilutes the effects of a film. It is worth noting that in the original Rocky, the relationship is crucial to his self-worth and driving force to succeed in life outside of the ring. It would have been the same whether he was boxing or playing chess. Stallone gives the best performance of the film without a doubt. This century's Rocky reboots have shown him as a genuinely good and accomplished actor.
Another modern trait is the transparent evocation of old vs new, especially with regards to the older generation being left behind by new technology. It seems to crop up in the scripts for many recent blockbusters (Bad Boys for Life was terrible for it) There is a moment here when Rocky scribbles down a regime for Adonis to follow, he takes a photo of it on his mobile and when Rocky asks if he wants the hard copy he replies, 'I've got it here', 'but what if you lose that thing' says the old man, 'It's already in the cloud', Rocky looks up at the sky, confused. This is the only reference to it, a late stage script read should have honed or dropped that, it's cringey and the most misjudged moment of the film for me.
The majority of the story and performances are perfectly serviceable and enjoyable without being memorable, and as expected you do get invested in the action. The main strength is the fight sequences which are very well filmed in long unbroken takes, the camera dancing between and around the fighters in the ring, whether it's effective or not I don't know, but it looks great and they do stick in the mind, which is surely a success. I remember Joe Rogan talking about boxing in films and saying that my hero Daniel Day Lewis in The Boxer (a mediocre film) is the most convincing boxing performance by an actor. Mainly because of the way he threw punches, they werent cinematic but always with an element of defense. In Creed, as in other modern films of the sort, they fall into the trap of making all the fights almost all out attack - much more cinematic and enjoyable but probably not typical in the real world.
This is a crowd pleaser, which it does well, so to a certain extent any critical analysis is irrelevant. It is enjoyable without being technically brilliant, which is what makes the most money these days. It could have been a whole lot worse, but I don't think it's destined to be a classic.
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