MOVIE REVIEW - Creed

Here comes one of the best of the year. The seventh in the Rocky franchise, Creed is the the second best of the series next to the Oscar winning original from 1976.

It's not often that there is applause at the end of a movie, but there was here.  And it's deserved.  This movie is the story of Apollo Creed's son that he never knew because of his death. His son is from an affair he had.  Adonis (Micheal B. Jordan) his son, is a troubled young man who only wants to fight.  So he leaves his full-time job to pursue his dream of being a champion boxer.   And he tracks down, and enlists the help of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) to manage him.

This is terrific in every regard. This movie is so careful to stand on its own, all the while channeling the magic of the original in its emotional feel.  It's back to basics for this franchise.  This series of course became a sort of eye rolling joke after a while, but there is no denying the original is fantastic in every regard, and so is this!  I would see this again in a heartbeat.

Jordan is terrific, but the real story is Stallone.   He is brilliant in this movie and not only should be Oscar nominated for this, but he should win for supporting actor. Stallone recaptures Rocky again just as he did when this character was new. This movie also boasts the best supporting cast since the original.  This movie is filmed remarkably, edited magnificently and the overall production is first class in every aspect. 

Creed.  It's rare that one of the years biggest hits with fans will be one of the years most honored movies, but this one will.   One of the years best pictures - period.