I hate it when I enjoy a boxing movie. Just hate myself for it. I go to all that trouble explaining how boxing is the easiest metaphor in movies, and don’t kid yourself, it is, and they go to all that trouble of making a seventh Rocky film (how long did that idea take?), and, rrrrrr, it’s good. Dammit.
In Creed, Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) doesn’t fight because he needs to be defined; he fights because that’s who he is. We know this from when the movie first catches him throwing fists in juvy. There is greater honesty in those sentences than in the last ten boxing movies I’ve seen combined. Recognizing the kid as her late huaband’s bastard child, Mary Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad) rescues him from the streets and takes him to a pampered life of Mustangs and pencil pushing. But that ain’t Adonis; he’s a fighter like his father, and proves it by turning down a middle management promotion to focus on his boxing career. Did you ever see that SNL sketch about the male synchronized swimmers? The passion goes hand-in-hand with the insanity.
Unable to surf the El Lay boxing scene, Adonis Johnson (he keeps “Johnson” even after discovering his father’s identity) heads to Philly because, hey, we haven’t seen Rocky in almost ten years now and we’re really worried that nothing is wrong with his life. Creed lives for the hypocritical nature of the moment: Adonis doesn’t want to live off his father’s name, but he can’t get Rocky’s attention without selling himself as the son of Rocky’s greatest rival. In ways both large and small, this moment describes every person watching this film.
Sylvester Stallone was born to play Rocky Balboa. There’s no other role that makes sense for that man. Oh he parlayed the Rocky fame into a career of comic violence, but whether Rambo, Dredd or Cobra Plissken, Sly is not that guy. Sly is Rocky and nobody else. It’s his iconic role for very good reason.
Reluctantly and while ruffling a few feathers of boxers he didn’t help, Balboa agrees to take on Project Adonis. We know Rocky doesn’t want this; he says as much. Does he feel responsible? Obligated? Perhaps it’s just fitting: Apollo Creed put Rocky on the map; it’s only fair that he return the favor. The dissimilar pairing is just as dramatic as in the orginal Rocky – slick, savvy, monied, modern Adonis coupled with the barely-literate-but-lovable blue collar caveman. And all of this so that the unpolished, inexperienced boxing Adonis can get his teeth kicked in by current Super Middleweight champion Ricky Conlan (Tony Bellew).
Creed got me really interested in weight classes, especially since Adonis was fighting out of his. I mean, look at Michael B. Jordan and Tony 
Bellew side-by-side and you’ll say, “that guy shouldn’t be fighting that guy.” And he shouldn’t. Jordan is a Super Middleweight while Bellew is a Heavyweight. This is why you have boxing classifications. And then it struck me how outdated these classifications are. There are eight weight classifications for people under 130 pounds. These can only be for folks who need to see children fight. There is only one classification for blokes over 200 pounds. One. Think about that. There are entire American towns right now where you can’t find a grown man under 200 pounds. 250 v. 210? 290 v. 220? 350 v. 215? You’re telling me these are all fair fights?
In a very odd and magical way, Creed is the best tolerance film of the year. It matters not that Rocky is white and Adonis is black or that they come from completely different backgrounds and areas of the country. Friendship is about what you build, not necessarily who you are. Creed even takes it a step further, giving Adonis a downstairs girlfriend, Bianca (Tessa Thompson), who is hearing impaired. Does that matter? Of course not. And the screenplay never once calls special attention to discrepancy issues; it simply accepts them and moves on, much like real life.
His name is Johnson, no, it’s Creed
He’s trained for business, but likes to bleed
Rocky don’t want in, but he gives
He prefers to wither, and yet he lives
You’ve seen the ending, but won’t dismiss
I don’t like boxing, but I liked this
Rated PG-13, 133 Minutes
D: Ryan Coogler
W: Ryan Coogler & Aaron Covington
Genre: Rocky
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Fighters
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Pacifists
