Creed

Full disclosure, I haven't seen any of the Rocky films and went to see this one because my cousin is an extra, though you can't find her at all in the crowd scene so it basically doesn't even matter.
Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) has had a troubled past, with his mother dying young and then being shuffled around foster care and juvenile hall before finally being rescued by his father's widow, Maryann (Phylicia Rascad) who takes pity on her late husband's illegitimate child and takes him into her home and finishes raising him. He has a good office job and just got a promotion but he gives that all up and moves to Philadelphia so he can box full-time and even urges Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) out of retirement to be his mentor and trainer. Adonis tries and ultimately fails to keep his famous father's name out of everything and he struggles to get out of his father's epic legacy. Yes, he has other battles than just the ones in the ring.
Adonis has his relationship with Bianca (Tessa Thompson) who is a rising singer with hearing loss and then just when Adonis is finally starting to get out of his father's shadow, Rocky is diagnosed with cancer and refuses to undergo treatment because his wife died from cancer and he knows that that will also be his fate. Adonis gets into a huge fight and ends up in jail, albeit briefly. I mean, Rocky didn't call him his son or anything and then another singer refers to Adonis as baby Creed which just rubs him the wrong way.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, he decides that if he will continue to fight, then Rocky must fight also so Rocky decides to get chemo while Adonis trains for the fight of his life, against an Irishman who has never lost, is taller and far more experienced than Adonis.
That fight is epic, complete with blood and gore and Adonis has an eye that becomes swollen shut, which is most tragic, but he refuses to be knocked down and the fight, after twelve rounds, the fight is a draw, though the Irishman is given the victory but Creed has proven that he is a force to be reckoned with.
Now, though I didn't have any problems with the plot, I did have a few problems with the film, namely the relationship between Bianca and Adonis. Though I liked Bianca as a character, and like Thompson as an actress, I wish that they would have given Adonis a girlfriend with a normal job, maybe a teacher or something and the hearing loss is interesting. She gives him some advice, she wants to do what she wants as long as she can before her hearing is shot. I also hated that when she becomes angry with him and doesn't want to hear his pleading any longer, she merely takes out her hearing aids, though she can still probably hear him. I also hated the scene where Adonis is running through the streets and people form a ring of motorcycles around him. Yikes.
There were also plenty of realistic scenes, including the ones in the hospital, without making it look overly glamorous. I also especially enjoyed the scene where Rocky pulls up a chair and newspaper and talks to his dead wife at her tombstone. It was just so sweet.
The acting was also great and the camera work was incredible, mostly during the fight scenes. Michael B. Jordan is always great, though I thought he was much better in his previous collaboration with director Ryan Coolger, Fruitvale Station.
I also hope that history doesn't repeat itself. In 1976, Rocky beat a film about investigative reporting and now Creed threatens to do the same thing. Well, I hope that Spotlight wins. It is a much better film. Still, this film bears worth watching. Grade: B+