I just saw the movie Creed.  If you are unaware, this is a new installment in the Rocky franchise.  However, this movie isn’t so much a sequel, but a film set within the world of Rocky.  The main character is Adonis Creed, the illegitimate son of Apollo Creed.  Apollo, if you aren’t a fan of the franchise, was Rocky’s opponent in the first two films.  In later films, the two become friends, bonding over their shared understanding of what it is to be a fighter.

Apollo dies before the birth of Adonis and he spends his youth in a combination of foster homes and juvenile detention.  With a proverbial chip on his shoulder, Adonis strikes out to find his own place in the world and create his own legacy separate from his father, though ironically following in his father’s footsteps as a fighter.  When no one will train him, he turns to his father’s old friend, Rocky Balboa, to teach him what he needs to learn to be a real fighter and help him understand the father he never knew.  That is the premise of the film and a creative way to provide a different perspective on a well worn film franchise.

The film, much like the character of Adonis, has the daunting task of understanding where it came from and knowing that it needs to go in it’s own direction.  No one wants to see Rocky 7.  Rocky 5 was terrible and Rocky 6, while better than 5, doesn’t really stand up.  So the film largely ignores the later installments and hearkens back to the original films.  There are a lot of nods to the previous films, including some familiar settings.  However, instead of simply standing on nostalgia alone, the film always seems to go it’s own way.  Even the film’s score perfectly balances the old and new.

If you are a fan of the Rocky franchise, you will absolutely love this movie.  It has the realistic tones of the first two films combined with the in-the-ring action of the third and forth films.  The ending doesn’t quite capture the magic of Rocky yelling “Adrian” at the end of the original film, but it is a solid film beginning to end. My recommendation – go re-watch Rocky 1 through 4, then go see Creed.  You won’t be disappointed. I give it an 8.5 out of 10.