I’ve watched every installment of the Rocky franchise, enjoyed everyone of them, though I somewhat believe that, apart from the original, all the sequels feel unnecessary and redundant, until Creed happened.
It’s just such an ingenious idea, putting Apollo’s son into the ring, pitting him against other one-dimensional and villainized boxers. Born with a silver spoon, and is trained by none other than the underdog Rocky Balboa himself. Sounds almost perfect. And the first Creed movie clearly worked.
But by the time I watched this second Creed movie, I had already forgotten everything that happened in the first one. And that’s the problem of this new franchise under the wing of Rocky, the story’s just too old and too forgettable.
There are some exciting boxing matches, sure, and some badass training montage as always. But that was it. Some flashy stuff with no real content. When it comes to character study, it never reached the same depth as the first Rocky movie, not to mention Raging Bull, which is a classic textbook case of how to make a boxing movie.
And despite all the 21-century feel, all the hip-hop, and all the African American faces, it was the same old Rocky formula, and it never broke free from Rocky’s shadow.
But Michael B. Jordan shined again. A brilliant actor of his time, with two Creed movies, The Wire, Fruitvale Station, Black Panther and more under his belt, he’s the true heavyweight champion of Hollywood.
史泰龙演绎传奇拳手
