Creed

[Tiggsy]

Been looking forward to this for a while now. So much so that I made my other half (who's a lot younger and had never seen a Rocky) sit through all 6 during December so that we would be ready!

Local cinema (Reading - possibly one of the best in the country now) was literally empty at 10pm so we settled down with our coffees and off we go...

It's superb! Best film I've seen in a while. OK, it's not perfect.... A few too many uses of "real style TV interviews/pundits talking" and "frezze frames" that display boxers stats for no real benifit. And a few too many times that it tries to do old Rocky "stuff" in a new way (the horrible jogging with the motorbikes scene from the trailer only looks worse in the movie) and Creeds speech to the crowd post fight is more cringingly Rocky 4 than goose bumpy "adrian!!!!!" from Rocky.......but thats all.

It's long......but, unlike the Reverent, didn't bore me. Michael B Jordan (who I haven't seen since he was 13 in the Wire) is in great shape and fights/acts fine. Stallone has perfected playing Rocky to the point where you feel like you are literally watching Rocky, not Stallone - awards coming his way, for sure.

And the best bit-the fight scene choreography and filming is amazing (far better than southpaw..... Which was also very good) the constant revolving of the camera around the fighters makes you feel completely immersed in the bout...... yet it always seems to be in the perfect place to film the crucial hits (no idea what category this gets awards in-but it deserves some)

My only caveat to all this is that...... it helps massively if you are a Rocky fan. GF enjoyed it but not to the same extent (but she's a girl - if you're a 42 year old who watched Rocky disrobe in Rocky 4 to reveal his chiselled from steel body post Russian training montage...... and immediately went out and bought plastic dumbbells.....its a different story)

And lastly - the music (which I have always loved and still have on my gym playlist) is used brilliantly. For 95% of the film I wished it was more prominent as they only used the subtlest of touches of it...... but when it finally kicks in it gave me an even bigger buzz than the Star Wars theme did last month.

8.5/10 - if you're a fan of the series, this will not disappoint (for me, perfect combination of Rocky 4 and Balboa....... and better than either as a result - although nothing can, and ever will, top 4's training montage and Drago jogging round an empty sports hall in white Lycra's whacking speedballs as he goes)

[Tiggsy]

Guvernator said:

Tiggsy said:

And lastly - the music (which I have always loved and still have on my gym playlist) is used brilliantly. For 95% of the film I wished it was more prominent as they only used the subtlest of touches of it...... but when it finally kicks in it gave me an even bigger buzz than the Star Wars theme did last month.

I was lead to believe by a friend that it doesn't feature any traditional Rocky music, instead opting for gansta rap and for this reason I've avoided seeing it as IMO a Rocky film isn't a Rocky film without some rocking 80's power ballads. Have I been misinformed?

sort of.....Stallone made clear he was not involved with behind the camera stuff as its NOT a Rocky story.....its a younger, black kids story and the music/themes reflect that. But they know how big a part of this Rocky is and use subtle hints of old music in various places - for me, they did so, teasingly so that when it finally gets used you've been waiting for it all movie. It's not a big part of the film...but its NOT his story. And was certainly more effective than Star Wars "look, its the Falcon over there...remember that kids?" approach!

I love the originals - and loved this. It's not 1976 anymore! Time moves on....thats the point of the film in a way, passing the story onwards.

[Tiggsy]

vxr8mate said:

Now...if you're talking about Revenant I'm not sure I agree with you there.

You dont agree I was bored? I assure you I was!