Further Thoughts on Creed

One thing I really love about Creed is the obvious care and consideration that goes into its basic link between the old (Rocky) and new (Donnie) parts of the franchise:  Donnie as the illegitimate son of Apollo Creed.  It would have been simple to just establish that connection, using it as a shortcut to audience goodwill without making it have any bearing on the story.  Creed, though, doesn’t remotely take the shortcut.  Rather, Donnie’s background and parentage is hugely important to his character, as well as to his ardently-desired boxing career (some spoilers.)

To start things off, what is Donnie’s origin story?  Like I said, he’s Apollo Creed’s illegitimate son.  Donnie’s working-class mom never told him about his famous father, who died before Donnie was born.  After losing her as well, Donnie was put in the foster system and bounced between group homes and juvie until Mary Anne, Creed’s affluent widow, tracked him down.  She told him the truth about his father and took him to live with her in her very upscale home.

There’s so much to unpack here.  On a socio-economic level, Donnie’s upbringing with Mary Anne makes him an outsider in the boxing world.  He’s regarded as a poser, a soft rich boy who was born with a “silver spoon” and who doesn’t have the hunger or the rough ‘n’ tumble background needed to be a “real” boxer.  These attitudes infuriate Donnie because, while he obviously loves Mary Anne and knows how he’s benefited from the advantages her wealth has provided him, he doesn’t feel soft or privileged.  He still feels like that angry, unwanted kid scrapping in juvie with something to prove. 

Then there’s the baggage with Creed, the dad Donnie never met.  His feelings are complicated, to say the least.  Of course, he knows what a legendary boxer Creed was, and he looks up to his father for that – although the drive to fight was in Donnie long before he knew where he came from, boxing is still, at least in part, a way of connecting with Creed.  At the same time, however, he knows that his mom and Creed were never together, that Creed never knew about him, and that, even if he had, he never would’ve planned on being Donnie’s father.  He obsessively watches Creed’s old fights on YouTube, but when he gets up to shadowbox the screen, but he doesn’t step into his dad’s shoes.  Instead, he becomes Rocky, Creed’s challenger.

These conflicting emotions influence his career decisions as well.  Donnie boxes under his mom’s surname, not wanting to trade in on his dad’s fame to get ahead.  He doesn’t want to cut corners and get handed something he hasn’t earned, nor does he want any credit he does earn to be given to his name instead of his talent – he doesn’t want to be accused of coasting to the top.  And yet, when he gets serious about training, it’s Rocky that he seeks out, forging his future by making ties to his dad’s past, and he has no problem invoking the Creed name when Rocky initially rebuffs him.  Donnie’s illegitimate status also factors into his reluctance to box under his father’s name.  He doesn’t want Creed’s reputation posthumously tarnished by his very existence, and he can’t bear being looked at as Creed’s “mistake.”  Finally, Donnie’s most personal reason for eschewing his father’s mantle is his fear of “taking on the name and losing.”  Even though Creed is long dead, Donnie still wants to do right by him, still wants to be “worthy” and do something his dad would have been proud of.  I just love that there’s so much here; it’s such a rich film with beautifully sophisticated themes, none of which are more expertly explored than Donnie’s fraught relationship with his deceased father.

Creed (2015, PG-13)

I had a heck of a time trying to see this.  I blinked (and missed) its release at my local theater, and since then, it’s vanished from the closest theater every time I’ve contemplated driving out to see it.  I finally managed to catch it, 62 miles away – yeesh.  But you know what?  So worth it.  (Be advised that this is my first Rocky-franchise film ever, so my background is thin.)

Adonis “Donnie” Creed has spent his life in the shadow of a man he never met.  The illegitimate son of boxing legend Apollo Creed (who died in the ring before he was born,) Donnie is determined by follow in his father’s footsteps while at the same time not trading in on his father’s legacy – he boxes under his late mother’s last name.  Despite the protests of his adopted mother – Creed’s widow Mary Anne – who worries for his safety, his efforts take him to Philly, where he attempts to enlist an aging Rocky Balboa as his coach.

Okay – as I’ve said, I’m not a big sports movie person in general, and I’ve seen only a very few boxing movies.  (I feel obliged to point out that one of those is Buster Keaton’s Battling Butler.)  But I loved this movie.  I thought it was absolutely great.  I’ve heard some people say it has pretty strong parallels to the original Rocky– shades of the A New Hope/The Force Awakens comparisons? – and I couldn’t tell you about that, but it’s just incredibly well-made.  The story is compelling, the direction is tight, the characters are meaty and rootable, and the acting is rock-solid.  Every element comes together wonderfully. 

There are beautiful character and story touches throughout, little moments that flesh out these people and the world they inhabit (I particularly like that Donnie’s love interest has stuff going on in her life besides being Donnie’s love interest.)  In tone, the film can be dramatic, exciting, uplifting, humorous, touching, and intense, skipping effortlessly between these variations as the script demands.  The dialogue sounds natural and lived-in, even in the “rah-rah, inspiring sports movie” moments.  Also?  The relationships are excellent.  The mentor-mentee chemistry between Donnie and Rocky is aces, the brief scenes we get between Donnie and Mary Anne are lovely, and I really like the budding relationship between Donnie and aspiring musician Bianca.

Michael B. Jordan is splendid as Donnie.  As Hamilton would say, he’s “young, scrappy, and hungry,” but he’s also angry, in up to his neck if not over his head, and bubbling with unresolved issues.  I’d at first thought Sylvester Stallone’s Oscar nomination was sort of a comprehensive nod to his history of playing Rocky, but he is in truth very good here and rises to the occasion of some fantastic material.  I love Tessa Thompson (who I remember best as Jackie on Veronica Mars) as Bianca, and as Mary Anne, Phylicia Rashad does great work with limited screentime.

On the #OscarsSoWhite front, I really, really wish writer-director Ryan Coogler had been recognized in some way – a screenplay nod if the voters were feeling especially stingy with the directing slots.  I’d have loved to see some love for Michael B. Jordan as well, although the lead actor category is so packed with Oscar-y roles that I’m not sure who he might’ve edged out.

Warnings

Boxing violence, some swearing, and brief sexual content.