• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Film
  • DVD
  • Editorial
  • About ScreenFish

ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • News
  • OtherFish
  • Podcast
  • Give
You are here: Home / DVD / Creed: Discovering You’re A Contendah

Creed: Discovering You’re A Contendah

March 3, 2016 by Jacob Sahms Leave a Comment

creed2

Some folks feel that Sly Stallone was robbed of a lifetime achievement award in his nomination for Best Supporting Actor at Sunday night’s Oscar ceremonies.

The greater snub is that Michael B. Jordan’s role as Adonis Creed, son of Apollo Creed, didn’t get nominated at all.

Playing the heir apparent to carry the mantle, “Black Rocky” plays like an urban remix of the original, with a different soundtrack and more realistic drama than 2015’s other boxing flick, Southpaw. Following Adonis’ journey over rugged physical and emotional terrain to build himself into the fighter that he feels in his genes, the film highlights the nuanced portrayals by Jordan and his foil, the craggy-faced Stallone as the original rough-and-tumble Philly hero.

There’s a formula buried underneath Adonis’ struggle, a string of training and bout vignettes strung together, but this is no simple remake. Balboa needs to redeem himself, echoing Stallone’s final(?) epic run at an Oscar, making up time he sees spilling out on the floor. [The late film developments will also make him even more like Burgess Meredith’s Mickey in a career and character arc.] Jordan wants to prove he’s not just a brawler, but he also wants to show himself that he’s not a nameless castoff, the average kid who grew up rough without a father and never escaped that shadow.

Spicing up the storyline are the litany of actual boxers playing boxers from Tony Bellew as “Pretty Ricky” Conlan and Andre Ward as Danny “Stuntman” Wheeler. More interesting are the casting of Phylicia Rashad as Apollo’s wife and Adonis’ foster mother, and Tessa Thompson as the musical love interest of Adonis. These feminine characters add a depth to the real life of Adonis out of the ring – something missing in the aforementioned Southpaw and my favorite fighting film, Warrior.

While films like Spotlight, Room, and Trumbo are meaningful cinema that everyone should see, Creed joins Mad Max as the two films I most appreciated in 2015 – and know that I will rewatch. The story and power of Adonis’ desire to make something of himself, and the way that storyline is played out over both his success and his failure make this worthy of our attention. Nevermind that it’s also full of sermon illustrations and moments of real world (and spiritual) wisdom.

All of us are searching, seeking, yearning to be accepted and to make a difference. Creed shows us that we must cut through all of the “stuff” that gets in our way, all of the things we throw up to hide ourselves from others, to dig down deep. It’s through the crucible of the ring – and life itself – that Adonis discovers that he is who he always wanted to be, with the help of his “family,” and in spite of his insecurities, family background, and societal expectations.

Share it!

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: DVD, Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: boxing, Michael B. Jordan, Oscars, Rocky, snub, Sylvester Stallone

About Jacob Sahms

Jacob serves as a United Methodist pastor in Virginia, where he spends his downtime in a theater or playing sports

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

THE SF NEWS

Get a special look, just for you.

sf podcast

Hot Off the Press

  • Monday – The Price of Hedonism
  • Beate – Socio-Economic Farce
  • Hope – The Possibility of Light in the Darkness
  • The Seventh Day: Demons, Hidden in Plain Sight
  • The Courier: Small Acts, Big Impact
Find tickets and showtimes on Fandango.

where faith and film are intertwined

film and television carry stories which remind us of the stories God has woven since the beginning of time. come with us on a journey to see where faith and film are intertwined.

Footer

ScreenFish Articles

Monday – The Price of Hedonism

Beate – Socio-Economic Farce

  • About ScreenFish
  • Privacy Policy

© 2021 · ScreenFish.net · Built by Aaron Lee

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.