I’m a huge fan of the Rocky film series. The first one is a beloved American classic for all the right reasons, while Rocky’s 2-5 are (to me at least) a fascinating look at a bizarre film franchise with each film still being entertaining in their own way. The last film, Rocky Balboa, is a lovely finale to the series and I honestly was good to just let Rocky retire.
What I didn’t expect was for them to do one more tale with the Italian Stallion….and to make the focus not about him.
When I heard about CREED a few years ago, I thought it was a pretty neat idea.
What if Apollo Creed had a son who was also a boxer, and Rocky became his trainer.
Simple, sure…but if you know the series it almost becomes a really fitting continuation of the story. It allows Rocky to put to peace one more thing from his past, his relationship with Apollo Creed and what Creeds friendship means to him.
When I heard they were getting the director of Fruitvale Station and having Fruitvale Station‘s star Michael B. Jordan take on the role of Apollos son, I knew they weren’t trying to do another cash grab sequel or reboot. They were getting a filmmaker who got dramatic chops first, not a flashy director to make a cool looking film. This told me they wanted to make a drama, not a popcorn fluff film.
I’ve been eager to see footage from this and tonight a trailer finally showed up…
Great trailer. I think it’s selling this movie right. With out knowing it’s a tie-in with the Rocky movies, it feels like it’s own thing. It feels like a strongly visual and powerful looking film. It doesn’t feel like a Rocky movie…which it’s not.
I’m glad they held off showing Stallone as long as possible…hell, they didn’t even mention his NAME! They use Rocky just enough in the trailer, and he adds the right amount of weight. Sidenote, I’m glad to see Rocky’s Italian restaurant, Adrian’s, is still around.
This looks great, and I can’t wait to marathon the whole series again and to end it on this one. If it’s good or bad, and even thought he’s not the lead, I’m happy to see Balboa back on the big screen again.
CREED will be out on November 25, 2015.