Creed

Despite the relative success of the film The Lords Of Flatbush in the early 70s, Sylvester Stallone found himself relatively unknown as an actor, still playing inconsequential parts such as Al Capone’s henchmen in Capone, an uncredited cameo as subway thug in the Woody Allen’s Bananas and an extra in the thriller Klute.

Stallone realized that he would have to carve a niche for himself to achieve any semblance of recognition. He drew inspiration from a boxing match he saw between the then world champion Muhammad Ali and an unknown Chuck Wepner. While Wepner did not emerge victoriously, he did deliver a few solid punches and even managed to knock Ali down. Wepner left an indelible impression on Stallone and was the impetus for the idea of Rocky Balboa. Rocky wasn’t necessary the biggest, the strongest,  the swiftest or the smartest but possessed the remarkable tenacity and indefatigable spirit to persevere despite the almost insurmountable challenge.

Stallone completed the script in just three days (it did undergo revisions later), but this milestone was merely the beginning of a long drawn struggle of turning this script into a feature film. Stallone labored through various film studios hoping to realize his dream, the response was encouraging, every studio executive who read it agreed that the script was exceptional, with the caveat they wanted viable stars of those days such as Burt Reynolds, Robert Redford or Ryan O’Neal to play Rocky.

Stallone was impoverished to the extent that he had only $102 in his bank account and was compelled to sell his dog since he couldn’t afford to feed it. With the $365, 000 offered for the screenplay of Rocky, Stallone could have turned his life around, and worked on another script for himself later on. But that would have been the easy way out, Stallone knew that Rocky was his path to glory and hence lucrative temptation was resisted.

Perseverance paid when MGM agreed to make Rocky with Stallone as the titular character and a budget of just over $1 million. Upon release, the film received huge critical and popular acclaim. It grossed $225 million in globally at the box office, became the highest-grossing film of 1976, and went on to win three Oscars, including Best Picture. The central theme of the film about the triumph of the human spirit despite all unwinnable odds mirrored what Stallone had managed to achieve in real life. Rocky was Stallone first step towards global superstardom.

Rocky spawned five sequels and grossed over $1.4 billion at the global box office, and when Rocky Balboa came out in 2006, it did seem like Rocky’s swansong. Then in 2015, director and writer Ryan Coogler created a spinoff that focused on the life of Adonis Creed, the son of Rocky’s rival turned friend Apollo Creed with Rocky as a supporting character. Fears that it was a gimmick to milk the popular franchise were dispelled when Creed turned out to be a compelling drama with all the elements that made Rocky work and much more. It even earned Stallone his first Golden Globe win for his acting.

In Creed II, Adonis Creed (Michael B Jordan) faces a daunting challenge to his world heavyweight championship from Viktor (Florian Munteanu), son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lungren). Ivan is the Soviet superhuman fighter who killed Creed’s father Apollo after a brutal bout in the boxing ring in Rocky IV. Subsequently, Ivan Drago suffering defeat at the hands of Rocky in his own country. The ignominy of the rout caused him to become a pariah in his homeland, Ivan was deserted by everybody including his wife.

The writers Stallone and Juel Taylor along with director Steven Caple Jr. aptly relegate the pugilism to the background while they focus on the characters exploring the depths of their angst, regrets, generational grudges and heartbreaks. 

The theme of tenacity and endurance that has made the Rocky films are still at the center of the film. The other theme that pervades through the film is fatherhood. We see Rocky evolving into a father figure to Adonis while he is estranged from his own son. Ivan Drago shares a military sergeant sort of uncompromising relationship with his son such that Victor yearns for his smidgen of warmth and approval.  We see Adonis coming to terms with being a father to his infant daughter while being under the shadow of his own father Apollo who he barely knew.

Redemption is a motif that permeates all through the film. We see Adonis and Rocky attempting to bring closure to the death of Apollo Creed by defeating Ivan Drago’s son. We see Ivan Drago hoping to regain his lost glory with his son winning the world championship by defeating Adonis. Rocky hoping to reconcile with his estranged son and bring light to the darkness in his life. There is even a depiction of a non-functioning street light before Rocky’s house that serves as an allegory to the loneliness that Rocky suffers.

This reason that operatically crafted boxing matches almost leap off the screen and cause you to feel the pain once a punch is landed, is that you to be emotionally invested in the characters. For fans of the earlier Rocky films, there is a wonderful stripped-down retro feel to the film, boxing isn’t depicted as the high tech sport rather a visceral and gruelling ordeal where there is nothing but blood, sweat, and some tears.

The cinematography by Kramer Morgenthau retains the mood set in Creed and is complemented by the editing that doesn’t hesitate to be subdued as it focuses on the ordeals and the moral dilemmas of its characters. It is this relative calm that serves as a stark contrast to the almost debilitating training scenes and raucous occurrences in the boxing ring and resulting in the action becoming much more effective.

The performances are top notch, Michael B. Jordan doesn’t hit a false note as he captures the agony and the ecstasy of Adonis Creed. He is ably supported by Tessa Thompson as Adonis’s girlfriend and Phylicia Rashad as Adonis’s empathetic mother. Dolph Lungren delivers a restrained but effective performance as the tough but broken Ivan Drago. Florian Munteanu is intense like a volcano about to erupt. Brigitte Nielsen has a brief appearance that should make 80s film fans nostalgic.

But the film belongs to Sylvester Stallone. Rocky is no longer the garrulous, playful and carefree soul of the first few films. Like a soldier who has been deeply scarred both physically and emotionally after suffering multiple wounds and irreparable losses in the battlefield, he is much more thoughtful, cynical and philosophical. He is deeply wary of bravado and recklessness that he once exhibited during his youth and see in Adonis. Stallone shows us why he is a first-rate actor as digs much deeper into the soul of Rocky while retaining all the elements that made the character so memorable and enduring. Stallone does magnificently during the poignant moments where he talks with his departed wife in before her tombstone, he also handles the scene of solitude quite adeptly. His scenes with Adonis are warm, funny and most endearing. A few days ago Stallone revealed that this would be the last appearance of Rocky, with Creed II couldn’t have been a better way to bid adieu to the big screen’s favorite pugilist.

For retailing all the elements from Rocky series that are almost forty-two years old and adapting them in a manner such that it is poignant, inspiring, relevant and fresh, this film is essential viewing.