Creed was one of my favourite movies in 2015. I'm not even a Rocky fan, but that movie was so great it did not matter. So when I heard there was a sequel in the works, I was excited.
Over the course the past year, I have felt my excitement drain away.
First there was the uncertainty over Ryan Coogler's involvement. Then word that Stallone himself was writing the film. And the news that Stallone was directing - only to be later replaced by Steven Caple Jr., a new filmmaker who I am unfamiliar with.
Then came the news that the film would feature a return appearance from
Rocky IV villain Ivan Drago... and his son (played by real-life boxer Florian Munteanu).
Ugh.
I have not seen the movie or read a script, but I'm saying it now - this movie is going to suck.
Stallone lucked out with
Rocky and
First Blood, but even fans of those franchises would have to admit that the first movies of those series are clearly the best, while the later
Rockys turn into cartoons, with Rock as a superhuman everyman taking on increasingly OTT opponents. Even
Rocky Balboa, the series' 2006 comeback, was based on a premise in which a 60-year-old Rocky fights the world champion.
I'm not bashing these movies, what I'm bashing is the need to pull Creed back into Rocky's past. There is a tonal shift that seems impossible to pull off.
Creed's story was all about making peace with the past, and setting out a new future. Bringing back Drago goes completely against that.
And then there is the racial component, which was one of the key elements that helped set
Creed apart from the
Rocky franchise. The characters felt fully-realised and the world they inhabited felt believable. With Stallone's fingers all over the movie, and a newbie filmmaker in the director's chair, can we expect a follow-up that will maintain or exceed the strengths of the original?
We'll have to wait till the end of the year to find out...
Related
Creed
No comments:
Post a Comment