[CRITICAL] CREED : The LEGACY OF ROCKY BALBOA

After leading seemingly to a life orderly and peaceful in Los Angeles, Adonis Johnson Creed decides to leave everything to lead the life he wants : that of a boxer. Ignoring the advice of the wife of Apollo Creed, the wife of the father he has never known, and those of the coaches, Adonis went to Philadelphia in the hope of convincing Rocky Balboa of the result.

Impossible to talk about this new part of the adventures of Rocky Balboa without mentioning the evidences. Because like know how to do this the american CREED is before all a succession and accumulation of certainties and elements that are expected and hoped for. Echoing a pattern that has been proven in the first part of Rocky, CREED walking in the footsteps of its predecessor by rehabilitating a structure storyline already used. The refusal of the coaches passing by his encounter with “THE” girl, returning to the workouts and the boxers opponent, the film from Ryan Coogler is consistent with one of the most ancient recipes of cinema to make a living for his hero all the steps recommended by the gurus of writing, such as McKee or Truby. Between classicism and conservatism the formula is still effective. It promotes empathy with the protagonist, offers a hand, pleasant to supporting roles (including Sylvester Stallone for this episode) while recalling regularly the opponents of the hero.

Since CREED knows how to vary and intensify these opponents. Embodied physically by the boxers opposing, these antagonists have become increasingly strong in dematerializing. Rocky had his false leg, Adonis was his name. What was supposed to be an asset becomes a liability, causing a tension and an extra challenge. Just like Rocky had to prove in the face of Apollo that he deserved to be in the ring, Adonis has to win the name of Creed. Without being all new and original, the film takes advantage of this issue. Torn between the shadow of his father and the fame of his name, Adonis has to reinvent itself both in the field of boxing as a human point of view. A Challenge that must also meet Ryan Coogler. Between academicism and sequences extemporaneous, between simplicity and modernism, the film goes from one extreme to the other. Filming with sobriety, the city of Philadelphia, the developer does not reveal its special characteristics, its strengths and its soul. The city is not only a city. It combines with Adonis for the implementation of its training and to make him more than a boxer. It forges its body, its identity and its future. These sequences are particularly successful it is necessary to add some of the struggles of the young boxer. The combat “fictitious” that there book with Apollo, just as the final battle, offer real proposals for staging original and unique.

“Between academicism and simplicity, effectiveness and ancient recipes, CREED convinces without keep all his promises.”

By slightly moving his plot to make Rocky Balboa, the character mentor, and adjuvant CREED stands out from previous films. Now a coach, and a “family” of substitution, Rocky has put away the gloves to become a counsellor and support. Because it is there, the “novelty” brought in this new opus. Appropriating classic themes and the alumni of the american film, CREED revives the theme of the family. Here everything is history of the inheritance. Everything is linked to the family. The one that chooses and that are based. One form of Adonis, Rocky and Bianca. Because even more than a coach and a mentor, Rocky becomes sort of the family Adonis that demonstrated by the repetitive use of “uncle” to refer to the former boxer. Both complementary and different, they support each other and help each other out, each bringing its strength and experience to the other. It is by forming a team, a community, with the staff put in place by Rocky, they fall in with some of the values of America and with success.

CREED convinces by its efficiency and simplicity. By reusing ready packages, which have proved their success, Ryan Coogler provides the spectacle. Beyond the issue of the inheritance of a name to move to the theme of the recomposition of a family, the film takes on a broader dimension but close sometimes the already seen. A balance sheet at the half-tint for a possible contender for the Oscars.

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THE OTHER OUTPUT OF THE 6 JANUARY 2016

The Eight guys, The boss’s Daughter, Mistress America, Stop me there, Early Winter, Toto and his sisters, etc