It is easy to think ‘Creed? Rocky reboot? Nah. No need for that’. Then again Rotten Tomatoes serves it up at 94%.
I had some spare time on my hands and accidently stumbled into what happened to be the European Première including a live feed from the red carpet at Leicester Square, which added an unexpected half an hour of unwanted interviews before the film started. All I was after was a decent training sequence, something that potentially could up the motivation level for my own training. Overall my expectations were moderate. Two hours later and I was rather surprised about how very enjoyable this film was. And most of it seems down to director Ryan Coogler. He managed to create something new out of something old. It is an entertaining homage with a level of depth due to excellent performances by all its cast and a dialogue that does say the right thing without ever saying too much. Pair this with good pacing and camera work that is smart and effective without being gimmicky and you are on to a winner. So if you thought there is no need for another film added to the Rocky franchise, well, think again. Creed is worth watching, whether you’ve seen any of its predecessors or not. Oh, and since watching it, I’m up at 6am every morning punching bags in the gym or running up some steep steps (way less glamorous ones though). What more could you want from a film?
ZTT