Now nominated for a Golden Globe Award, Ryan Coogler’s Creed is the movie that officially ends the epic Rocky series, an iconic series following the man Rocky Balboa as he makes his way to the top of his boxing career. Following almost ten years after the last movie of the Rocky series, Creed focuses on a young man by the name of Adonis Johnson. He is the son of famous Apollo Creed who faced off with Rocky in the earlier movies. Adonis feels he is obligated to carry out his father’s legacy as a fighter, since his father was killed in a boxing match. He leaves his home to find Rocky, in hopes the world famous boxing champion will serve as his mentor.

From the moment the movie was announced to be released late 2015, it was given high expectations from Rocky fans worldwide, uncertain it would do justice to its six-movie series that began 1976. When I went to the movies to watch the highly anticipated wrap-up, I assumed the movie would hold numerous references to the first ones, but I was surprised to see that not many allusions were made. The movie didn’t have the same feel the other Rocky movies did, having a balance of both comedy and action.

In the original movies, Sylvester Stallone (the director and actor for Rocky) establishes Rocky’s background and makes him a likeable character before he even enters the ring, making us care more about him and the outcome of the boxing matches. I didn’t feel either of these was rightfully fulfilled, having little comedy, and not giving its audience enough time to grow attached to its characters. Even though I’d expected a more modern vibe from Creed, I didn’t expect it to take the turn it did. The original Rocky music that had been used in the prior movies was scrapped, only appearing in a remixed version during the credits.

Creed could be considered completely new and isolated from the original Rocky series. Someone could watch the movie without knowledge of the other movies and feel as though they’re not missing anything, which was probably the their intention; the directors of the film most likely wanted a wider range of people to watch the movie other than returning Rocky fans. By not including as many allusions to the original Rocky movies, the movie allowed for others to watch the movie without feeling confused.

One of the biggest missteps of the movie was the love story they managed to cram into it. Midway into the movie, a girl seemed to come out of nowhere to provide a forced romantic subplot for the protagonist. The relationship was given little time in the movie and seemed to evolve unrealistically fast. Adonis Johnson moves into an apartment, meets a girl who lives downstairs (talking to her for only a minute or less), then returns to ask her on a date out of nowhere.

Creed did share a few things with the other movies, including a training montage and a similar ending. In the end of the first Rocky movie, Rocky lost the boxing match but the audience viewed him as the true winner. The ending to the movie Creed was the same. Adonis loses the boxing match but is viewed as the true winner, applauded and congratulated by his audience.
Overall, the movie seemed like a good segway into another series, transitioning from Rocky’s boxing legacy to Adonis’. Though the romantic subplot they included seemed unnecessary and a bit forced, and the movie didn’t take enough time to develop the characters into people the audience could really grow attached to, Creed overall was a good movie, and a great movie for a younger audience.