Movie Beat: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone great in “Creed”

Now that your Hunger Games hangover has finally subsided it’s time to figure out what movies you should check out this holiday weekend.

His stint as Rocky Balboa saw him nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Oscars in 1977.

Creed gets an A.

In a lot of ways, the best thing about Creed is the predictability.

NEWS: Remember this wildly uncomfortable interview with Michael B. Jordan and Kate Mara? “Rocky! Rocky!” at a celebration of the movie in Philadelphia had one more reason to cheer for Philadelphia’s favorite fictional son. I’m sure you can find it on-demand if you’re doing marathon before seeing Creed.

It helps that writer-director Ryan Coogler, who directed Jordan in Fruitvale Station and who went to Stallone with his idea for his next generation Rocky spin-off, doesn’t let his respect for the original stop this telling his own story and ensuring Jordan remains the star. While it is still in its early phase of development, exact details on the plot, characters, cast, and release date are yet to be revealed. Stallone’s performance enriches the film, never overshadowing his co-star’s performance. It’s to his credit that though he is overshadowed by the screen time dedicated to Michael Jordan’s journey of discovery and his love life, he still is the one who manages to draw all the cheers in the theatre. We knew Stallone was capable of giving one of those, too, but it’s still refreshing to see him return to that well, which he seems to do all too infrequently; it’s a performance that reminds us of how good this guy can be when he truly buys in, and it, like “Creed”, works so much better than it should.

It’s hard not to root for the underdog and “Creed” is no exception. This young man wants to become a legitimate boxer, and through a stroke of luck will get a shot at the title. “I thought at least they could have me there there holding a pad or something!” Go catch it for Stallone, for Rocky.

With nothing further to lose, young Adonis asks Balboa to be his mentor and trainer, marking a full circle from the point that Rocky asked Creed to do the same.

The opening scene of “Rocky” takes place on November 25, 1975. This wasn’t actually in the original script and was a suggestion from Sylvester Stallone. When paired up, these two made for a great love story that I would watch every holiday season. It’s an exercise in passing the torch with plenty of cross-generational appeal.

Of all the franchises this year getting rebooted, namely Mad Max and Star Wars, Rocky may be the strangest choice of them all. Drago ends up killing Creed, and he dies in Rocky’s arms in the ring.

The Italian Stallion rebounds enough to defeat Clubber convincingly later in the same film. “You’ll get an A on that test. I’d look over and say ‘Hey man, are we watching this for me or for you?'” But the British camp poses a condition: Adonis needs to use the Creed name. To tell you the truth, I don’t if you’re special.

“Creed” is PG-13 and earns the rating with some harsh language and violence in the ring.

That sounds pretty awesome to me! John is the co-host of the Flix Junkies podcast and will always entertain you with his stories.