"Creed" is a familiar, yet an inspired, tale

There are really a number of familiar terrains in "Creed" (2015, USA), the new film by Ryan Coogler, director of the Sundance-winning "Fruitvale Station" (which has the same lead actor). An underdog boxer;mentor-trainee dynamics;unresolved father issues;triumph of the spirit. Shouldn't really be a wonder, since "Creed" is meant to be the 7th installment in "Rocky", an iconic film series that's molded according to some known archetypes. So more or less, we already know in what direction the film will take. It's a habit of custom, so to speak. 

Yet, despite the familiarity, the film still manages to be a rewarding and satisfying viewing experience. It's because the director is able to imbue the film with humanism and artistry. Regarding the first aspect, the two lead characters of Sylvester Stallone (as the initially-reluctant mentor Rocky Balboa - excellent) and Michael B. Jordan (as the determined yet troubled prodigy Adonis Creed - also excellent) are written in such a way that they're not altogether defined by victories against all odds. Rocky isn't quite the formidable Italian Stallion of yesteryears anymore: At this point in his life, he would rather live quietly away from limelight, while old age, loneliness and deteriorating health are steadfastly taking their toll on him. While Adonis is seen as being prone to uncontrollable bursts of violent anger and as one who's not entirely meant to become a boxing champ by the end. Coogler and his co-screenwriter Aaron Covington aren't afraid to depict the two men in their lowest points as markedly as possible, in the same way that Stallone and Jordan aren't afraid to portray their characters as such. There's a scene in the film where Rocky and Adonis are in front of a big and wide mirror inside a boxing gym, which serves as part of the latter's training. Here, we symbolically see the senior Wisdom and the youthful Hunger being bound together by a shared fate and mission. 

As for the second aspect, we can observe that there are real inspired touches of filmmaking in "Creed". Coogler sets as the background for Creed's training a specific African-American neighborhood in Philadelphia, something that's rarely depicted in mainstream Hollywood movies, except perhaps when Spike Lee happens to make a film. Such a setting aptly lends a gritty feel to the young boxer's character development as he undergoes training, a direct contrast to the posh lifestyle of his Los Angeles hometown (if it's of any bearing, his monicker in the film is "Hollywood"). The technical fluidity of the film is likewise wonderful. For instance, the training montage and the sound cues give a nod to past "Rocky" movies, while being able to be distinguished on their own. And while not nearly as bravura as those found in Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull", the handful of boxing bouts in "Creed" are still as forceful as they can get, with one particularly stirring setpiece done in a long take, as the camera constantly swirls and moves around the two boxers which give us the feeling that we're right into the action, while we see and hear all the other happenings in the arena (the trainers' shouts, the audience's cheers, etc) from the sides. And as Rocky did have his "triumph-of-the-spirit" run up the steps in the very first "Rocky", so does Creed here, along the gritty streets of Philadelphia as he's followed by motorcycle-riding kids, beautifully rendered in extreme slow motion. Only time will tell if the latter can be as iconic as the former. 

"Creed" may not be born from Sundance (it was largely financed by Warner Bros.), but it still has this refreshing small-film feel to it. In fact, its mentor-prodigy dynamics somehow reminds me of Damien Chazelle's powerful "Whiplash" (though of course, the dynamics in the latter is on the other extreme). If on that alone, "Creed" can be considered as one of the best films of the year. 

Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan in a kind of father-son relationship in Ryan Coogler's "Creed".