[If I Fight, You fight] Creed in Review

image

Young film director, Ryan Coogler exceeds our expectations again with another striking film. No pun intended.With Actor, Michael B. Jordan by his side as the star of the film, we knew this would be another powerful collaboration. Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Johnson may have been the brick this legacy needed to continue to build.He delivered an impeccable performance, that was expected from most of us. If you know Ryan and Michael‘s collaborative work with Fruitvale Station then you were at ease about Creed.

Creed, directed by Ryan Coogler and written by him and Aaron Covington, wasn’t just another installment of Rocky. This was about Adonis Johnson finding himself and not being an embarrasment to his father’s legacy. Adonisdealt with internal and external conflict throughout the film and struggled at bit coming from a distorted childhood of juvenile delinquency, foster care, and dealing with the loss of both of his parents.

Creed‘s star cast all contributed to Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) finding his place in the world of boxing which earlier on in the film he expressed through action. Finding out that the late Apollo Creed was his biological father gave him hope but, pressured him at the same time. Mary Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad), Apollo’s widow, was a big influence on Adonis as she took him in. She didn’t want him to end up the same way as his dad, but eventually supported him along the way. From there he learned about his father and studied him in intimate settings. Yearning to be individual from father’s legacy he went on a quest to find a trainer and came up on gold, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone ). Rocky, hesitant about visiting that part of his life again took on training the son of his late friend and former rival. Realizing he had came up on gold himself. Conveniently Bianca (Tessa Thompson ) intervened in Adonis‘ life pushing him further as a boxer by being by his side through the film as a friend turned love interest.

No part of Creed was disappointing as it not only fit perfectly with the rest of the Rocky films, it also gave birth to yet another legacy. The storyline gave people of the newer generation a better understanding of the films that came before it. Not going in to great detail about Rocky because the film wasn’t solely about him, but offering a snippet of background about Adonis and through characters such as Rocky we were able to grasp the origin of the film. There were gems distributed through the film that most Rocky fans caught on to. Every scene gradually led up to Adonis’ big fight. Which was like sitting through an actual boxing match, as we were at the edge of our seats the whole fight.

Coogler did a great job with transition and camera work. Any scene where Adonis threw fists became ten times more intense because the camera angles made you feel as if you were in the room observing a developing boxer. Coogler also did a good job with instilling the theme of fighting in each main character’s storyline by giving them their own hardships to deal with along with Adonis. Coogler brought the past to current and that was witnessed in the scene where Michael B. Jordan (Adonis) is running through the streets of Philly with dirt bikes following him and many other instances that can be compared to past Rocky scenes.

By the end of the film, although it didn’t end as we all probably expected, it taught a valuable lesson. Adonis didn’t only fight for individuality in his craft of growing expertise, but fought to let his opponents know that he wasn’t fed with a silver spoon in the Creed legacy. We are hoping that this won’t be the last of Adonis Creed.

Uncommonrealist gives Creed a 10/10 for its delivery and ability to keep a legacy alive and current.