Creed Review: One More Round Goes to Rocky Balboa

We don’t know that with Donny.

Sylvester Stallone after winning in a scene from the film “Rocky IV”, 1985.

Even though she is not the mother, she takes in young Adonis. “This one’s from the 10th round of the second fight”. You hear “a Rocky story” referenced constantly if you watch sports. He looks up his Father’s friend, Rocky and convinces him to train him.

In Rocky III, Balboa is engulfed in a rich lifestyle and defending his title against weaker opponent and is preparing to retire when he angrily agrees to fight up-and-comer Clubber Lang (Mr. T).

Rocky needed every break he received in that original classic; Adonis was already handed the break he needed so why ignore that and seem ungrateful to a woman who could have hated him and totally ignored him his whole life. Adonis never met his father, but he wants to be a professional fighter, so he goes to Philadelphia to seek Rocky’s help. About half way through the film Donnie’s relationship with Rocky changes. The beloved ex-champion is old and gray now, but still humble and full of the joie de vivre that made us all love him in 1976.

Such dedication inspired the younger men to work harder. If you’re heading out to see the movie, why not get it started with a Rocky movie marathon?

We see Rocky Balboa from a different perspective, playing the same character but serving another story and plot altogether.

“Creed” opens a more modern Philadelphia to a new generation of fans: Johnny Brenda’s, Max’s Steaks, Front Street Gym. But it also maintains a sharp dramatic edge.

Bianca is an aspiring singer. She becomes his inspiration outside the ring-Adrian with braids and a million dollar voice. If so, it is a fitting tribute to a legend and the man who portrayed him. Stallone is tough leather in the role and his boxing smarts are honed.

Ryan Coogler’s Creed proves to me that with great sound, great cinematography and some pure emotion, you can recreate the magic of the original Rocky movie. His hair might be gray, but the 69-year-old actor shows he can still inspire people. Carrying 24 extra pounds of muscle, he lives up to his namesake while recalling Carl Weathers’ Apollo in the first four films-a physical specimen if there ever was one. He looks like a heavy bag, leave him… He takes on a young fighter named Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison) who betrays Balboa for bigger fights and bigger paydays while Rocky’s son struggles to adjust to his new life. Why does Rocky give him a chance?

Creed is a near ideal popcorn flick which succeeds in paying homage to the past Rocky films as much as it sets up its own distinct path for future installments.

But there’s only so far you can alter a series such as the Rocky pictures without tarnishing their broad appeal.

KPBS film critic Beth Accomando reviews “Creed”. He ushers the franchise into modernity with style. It’s a lovely, sentimental and tremendously well-shot movie (there’s one fight scene that appears to have been captured in one breathless, violent, continuous shot) that, yes, does pull out all the emotional stops with its judicious use of the “Rocky” theme, flashbacks of the elder Creed and, yes, those famous stairs (if you’re not crying by then, you have no soul.) If you like this sort of thing, you’ll love “Creed”.