A typical sports drama film - ***

Creed is considered the 7th of the Rocky series, but it can also be considered as a spin-off.   There was Rocky I-V, and then 'Rocky Balboa' considered as part 6 , then here comes Creed as the 7th.  Co-produced by Sylvester Stallone and directed by Ryan Coogler the film seems to sit well with critics and has earned good box office receipts since its opening in November this year.

Out of a juvenile detention facility, the bastard son of the deceased Apollo Creed, Donnie is taken in by the legal wife of Apollo, Mary Anne played by Phylicia Rashad.  We next find Donnie as an adult leading two lives, one as an employee at a securities firm and another as a underground boxer in Tijuana, Mexico.  Since he has been fighting mostly his childhood days and has too much of his father's blood in him, he decided to leave his job and pursue boxing.  He moved to Philadelphia to eventually get training from Rocky Balboa and gets to fight on an international  ring. 

While there is nothing incredible or spectacular about its narrative, this movie raises up a couple of questions; Are we worthy of our father's name?  How much does it take to earn the respect of our peers and the community we revolve in? What is family? It really took a while for me to realize the real conflict of this story, at the onset I kept asking myself, 'so what's the issue here?' Is it about the struggles of the youth of today or is about how our identity can be lost due to our heritage? At one point the movie seemed to loose some focus but it all boils down to the final fight and its outcome.

This will be the second time that I'm seeing Michael B.Jordan in a film, the first one being as Torch in Fantastic Four and I can say that he was well casted for this role as Donnie.  He was okay in Fantastic Four but he showed more depth and range here in Creed, he just proves that there is something more beyond his superhero body.