Continuing our Binge watch of Rocky and Creed Movies with a viewing virgin! Enjoy!

Rocky Balboa

Rocky Balboa occurs several years after Rocky V. Rocky’s son has grown up and moved out of the house. Adrian died of cancer and Rocky visits her grave every day with Paulie. Paulie is the only person who is still around, but he’s getting tired of the usual routine of visiting Adrian’s grave. Rocky also owns a restaurant called Adrian’s. I think this is his only remnant of the past. Inside the restaurant he has photos of his previous fights and of his family.

This was a sad movie to watch because it seems as though Rocky is pretty lonely without boxing, Adrian, and his son. His son doesn’t come around often. I think there are some lingering feelings from Rocky V that affected their relationship.  Rocky’s son would rather not hang around Rocky due to several reasons. 1) Rocky reminds Rocky Jr. about Adrian, who is dead. 2) Rocky Jr. is resentful of Rocky because of how it affected him growing up, and continues to affect him now. Being the son of Rocky means that there are very large shoes to fill and I don’t think Rocky Jr. ever lived up to those external expectations. In large part, I think that had to do with their relationship following Tommy Gunn. Rocky focused all of his time trying to relive his old life through Tommy, and never took the time to teach his own son how to box. I think the son and society feels that he isn’t really a Balboa if he can’t fight.

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Rocky earns back his license to begin boxing on a local level again. He feels that he isn’t really living and boxing will allow him to feel alive again. As usual, something occurs that pulls Rocky back into the heavyweight champion boxing world. However, the premise in this case was poor. Rocky accepts a challenge to fight Mason Dixon, the current Heavyweight Champion. This came about when a computer simulation between Rocky and Mason deemed Rocky as the winner. Despite everyone being against the idea, Rocky proceeds with the fight and loses. In his heart, he really won because he proved to himself that he is still a worthy opponent.

Overall, I didn’t like this movie because Rocky didn’t go into the fight with a solid resolve. I did like that this fight brought Rocky and Rocky Jr. closer to having the bond that they both wish they always had. Though this was sweet — I don’t think it was enough to carry the movie.

Quiz  question: What can you count on to happen in a Rocky film?

Answer:

1. Rocky runs up the stairs or a tall structure

2. Rocky throws his fist in the air

3. “Eye of The Tiger” or “Gonna Fly Now” plays

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4. Rocky gets beat up initially in his fights and then makes a come back

5. All of the Above

6. None of the Above

(Answer is E!)

Movie Grade: C

Creed

I initially watched Creed back when it first came out in 2015. As I mentioned at the beginning of my Rocky binge journey, I didn’t know much about Rocky. After watching all of the Rocky films, and then rewatching Creed, I have a greater understanding and appreciation for this movie. When I first watched Creed, I didn’t  comprehend the significance of the title–Creed. I think I would have been so much more excited to see this movie if I was a long time Rocky fan, because this movie comes 30 years after Apollo Creed dies. So I would have thought to myself, what could this movie be about??

Now that I’ve seen Rocky, I have all of this information that I can apply to this movie. Specific scenes are more meaningful to me and jokes are funnier. Specifically when Rocky gives Adonis Creed the American flag shorts for his fight. I understand that those were the style of shorts that Apollo Creed fought most of his fights in.

This movie reminded me of the original Rocky because it offered a lot of character development to understand the character of Adonis Creed. Adonis Creed has characteristics of both Rocky and Apollo. Specifically, he grew up poor and an orphan, until he was adopted, where he began living a much more lavish lifestyle. This lavish upbringing wasn’t enough for him, because he still believed his calling was to be a boxer. I think like a true boxer, he was willing to give up everything in order to pursue his passion. I also think Adonis Creed is what Rocky Jr. could have been, if he wanted to make a name for himself outside of being Rocky’s son. Adonis grew up knowing who his father was, and I think that was his reasoning for becoming a boxer; however he wanted to make a name for himself that was not associated with Apollo.

I really like this movie, because I think this is who Rocky was meant to train. To me, this movie feels like a redo of Rocky V.  Rocky gets the opportunity to train the son Creed never knew he had, and in some ways it’s as though he has his friend back. I also like that this movie didn’t focus too heavily on Rocky, but kept true to its name and allowed Adonis Creed to be the star.  Though this is a continuation of the Rocky series, I feel like it’s also its own movie because it didn’t follow the patterns of Rocky exactly, and in fact broke many of the things that we’re used to seeing in Rocky. For instance, many of the answers from the Rocky quiz would not apply to this movie.  Nonetheless, this was a great movie and I am very very very excited to see Creed II, especially knowing what I know from Rocky IV.

Movie Grade:  B+

Thanks for sticking around for my first-time viewing of the entire Rocky franchise! I look forward to seeing Creed II tonite! My final review will be posted soon, after I add the Peetimes (of course).

Movie Review – Creed

Movie Review – Creed

Here’s our original review when Creed first came out: 

Movie Review – Creed

Shani Ogilvie

Watching movies in theaters is an indescribable experience for me. This, doing laundry, and visiting the Container Store bring me true joy. When I’m not watching movies or getting Peetimes, I like keeping up with the latest technology, learning to code, and building things. Career wise, my passion lies with improving access and equity within the health, tech, and social sectors.