Creed (2015)

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Creed, aka Rocky VII, moves the focus of the aging Balboa onto the son of his greatest rival, Apollo Creed: Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan). Like the similarly-numbered Star Wars: Episode VII, Creed is less sequel than homage and reboot; its plot -- the young and inexperienced Creed is given an unlikely chance to fight the world champion -- either echoes or rips off the original film, depending on your degree of charity, and an early beatdown by a boxer from his dad's old gym, Danny "Stuntman" Wheeler (Andre Ward), sets up an antagonist for Creed 2/Rocky VIII.

It's striking in its lack of originality; frankly, I'm surprised to see another boxing film in this era of MMA dominance, but perhaps the series will follow the zeitgeist in that direction. Its most novel twist is the fact that Johnson is a child of privilege, rather than Rocky's street thug, but it makes his insistence on violence for a living -- giving up a high-paying job to do so -- seem a personal failing, even a pathology.

- Sam - 2015-12-31 23:57:28