I did enjoy this movie, but in order to do so I had few expectations to begin with, made even fewer when I saw the trailer.
The good stuff: it's well-paced, the fight choreography is really well done, the actors in the lead roles-Jordan, Tessa, Jonathan Majors..all play their parts brilliantly.
The not so good stuff: I know the Rocky/Creed franchise can be far-fetched at the best of times, but even for this universe the boundaries of reality are tested at times. All of the boxing characters are supposedly heavyweights but there's one guy, Chavez, who's barely taller than his mother and could be no more than a super-welterweight. At least Jordan and Jonathan Majors, with some clever camera work, could pass for cruiserweight/light heavy. Also, how on gods green Earth could an aging man who has been locked up and hasn't ever boxed a professional fight knock out the heavyweight champion of the world in his first fight? Who thought this was a viable plot?
Anyhow despite this, the performances of the actors make up for the absurd plot lines they work with, culminating in what's an enjoyable movie. It does lack the soul and grit of a Rocky movie, it's heavily commercialised with product/sponsorship drops throughout, cameos from famous faces etc.. but that grit disappeared from the Rocky franchise a long time ago, so in this sense it is very much a film of modern times.
The good stuff: it's well-paced, the fight choreography is really well done, the actors in the lead roles-Jordan, Tessa, Jonathan Majors..all play their parts brilliantly.
The not so good stuff: I know the Rocky/Creed franchise can be far-fetched at the best of times, but even for this universe the boundaries of reality are tested at times. All of the boxing characters are supposedly heavyweights but there's one guy, Chavez, who's barely taller than his mother and could be no more than a super-welterweight. At least Jordan and Jonathan Majors, with some clever camera work, could pass for cruiserweight/light heavy. Also, how on gods green Earth could an aging man who has been locked up and hasn't ever boxed a professional fight knock out the heavyweight champion of the world in his first fight? Who thought this was a viable plot?
Anyhow despite this, the performances of the actors make up for the absurd plot lines they work with, culminating in what's an enjoyable movie. It does lack the soul and grit of a Rocky movie, it's heavily commercialised with product/sponsorship drops throughout, cameos from famous faces etc.. but that grit disappeared from the Rocky franchise a long time ago, so in this sense it is very much a film of modern times.