Creed Is As Good As The Original Rocky (And Here's Why)

4. It Does The Formula Right

Rocky movies have a very strict formula. Not just that they all ultimately boil down to the same self-worth character arc, culminating in a metaphorical showdown, but in that major elements - from opening with the movie's title scrolling across the screen to Gonna Fly Now at the very start to moment of self-doubt leading into a fist-pumping montage - are repeated over-and-over across the movies. Each film usually introduced a couple of new ideas, but for the most part the movies themselves were never engaging as the broader story they were telling. I'd be lying if Creed didn't echo the broader elements, although not only does it ditch the kitschy things (eighties-style fade transitions, the title card), here it feels like more like a case of narrative expansion than a crutch - like Star Wars: The Force Awakens (and, don't worry, I'll get to the similarities between those two later) it adheres to the pre-existing narrative parameters to tell its new story, strengthening the whole in the process. What it really gets is that, at its best, Rocky isn't a sports movie - it's a character drama. We're following the story of Adonis Creed becoming a man, and only part of that happens in the ring. Like Rocky, the final fight becomes more than just a battle to win, and thus the whole film is more than simply build-up to what is essentially a very grounded action sequence.