When Sylvester Stallone announced that he wanted to continue the Rocky franchise by going down the spin-off route I was reserved. The idea that Apollo Creed, who was killed off in the fourth entry, would have a son who would want to fight for his father’s legacy by winning the world title sounded got me curious. But it puzzled me as to where this kid would have fit in during the course of his life. Well, there was only one thing I and others could think of – that Apollo cheated on his wife in order for Adonis Creed to be born. As it turns out, there is a deleted scene on the DVD of the movie that confirms this. Before even seeing the movie I had my concerns about how much the filmmakers would respect the character of Apollo Creed. Now that it has been confirmed that the guy, who was labelled the “dancing destroyer,” had been seeing somebody behind his wife’s back, I am even more shocked that Stallone would allow this. Had something happen between him and Carl Weathers that affected the way he would now see the character? Or did he have less control over the creative process than we think? Who knows.
As a movie, ‘Creed’ is serviceable. It has since spawned two sequels, with the third one coming out in theaters later on this year in 2022. The main problem I have with it is that I frankly do not think that Adonis Creed is all that compelling as a character. We learn that he had a rough childhood and was a bit of a tear away. He was locked up in his youth and eventually finds that the only thing that he may be good at is boxing. It is a cliché setup for a boxing movie. The difference between Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky and Michael Jordan’s Adonis is that Rocky was likeable, charismatic and interesting. Those three essential aspects were lacking in Jordan’s portrayal. I just did not find myself caring about what happens to him. When Bianca, who plays Creed’s love interest, comes into the mix the film tries to play on our sympathies by making it crystal clear that she is deaf and requires hearing aids. I felt that all of that came across as a bit desperate to evoke our emotions.
Stallone returns as Rocky Balboa and does not get much to do other than sit around in his gym and make the occasional visit to his former wife’s grave. The eventual subplot of it being revealed that Rocky has cancer was a good idea and made for the most dramatic part of ‘Creed’ for me. But other than that, I am a bit lost as to what was appealing enough about this movie for it to become a franchise of itself.
Adonis eventually gets a world title shot against Ricky Conlan who was played by real former boxing title holder Tony Bellew. Again by drawing comparisons, a story was built around Mason Dixon who Balboa had to face in the last Rocky movie in 2006. No such effort was made here, although there was a feeble attempt to make Conlan look fearsome as a fighter. The “big fight” toward the end was adequately directed by Ryan Coogler, although I must say that I am not a fan of making the fight sequences more grounded and real. ‘Rocky Balboa’ made the same creative choice, although given Stallone’s age, it was a smarter move for the circumstances around that one. But I think they could have gone back to making the fight scenes look more fanciful again, as they were in the earlier Rocky instalments.
Anyway, regardless of what I think the Creed series continues to power forward. The original film made a domestic gross of $109,767,581 from a $35,000,000 budget. Creed II (2018) saw a little decline in profits after making $115,715,889. It’s budget was $50,000,000. So, clearly there is an audience out there. I am just not one of them.
