Has there been a bad Rocky movie?  Sylvester Stallone’s springboard to stardom was the character and stories he wrote and starred in beginning with the first, garnering ten Oscar nominations and three wins, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing.  Stallone’s acting and screenplay even earned a nomination for the 1976 classic.  In fact Stallone has written each of Rocky II, III, IV, V and the most recent Rocky Balboa in 2006.  Now the Rocky story takes a new direction, this time with new writers, newcomers Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington, with the fall release Creed.

Who doesn’t remember the motivational Bill Conti soundtrack to Rocky?  Rocky II’s “Eye of the Tiger”?  How about cheering on Rocky as he defeated Dolph Lundgren’s Drago in Rocky IV? 

This time Rocky steps into the shoes of those that trained him, Burgess Meredith’s Mickey, Carl Weathers’ Apollo Creed, and Burt Young’s Paulie, to train a new fighter.  That fighter is Adonis Creed, son of Apollo, who we saw as Rocky’s unlikely trainer in Rocky III, and last saw as he was killed by Drago in Rocky IV.

Check out the trailer for Creed:

Adonis Creed is played by Michael B. Jordan, who will soon be in theaters as the new Johnny Storm/Human Torch in Marvel’s Fantastic Four, and has even shown up in TV roles on House, M.D., Bones, Burn Notice, Without a Trace, and The Wire.  The preview really seems to show the franchise may be smartly returning to the simplicity that made for the success of the first film.  This is the second time Stallone is not fighting in the ring in the series, although he did have a street fight in the most lackluster entry of the series, Rocky V. 

Creed arrives in theaters November 25, 2015.  Rocky aficionados may know that date as the 40th anniversary of the first time Rocky enters the ring in the original film.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com