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

3. Adonis Creed Is A Worthy Inheritor Of The Rocky Crown

Fantastic What? Michael B. Jordan was the best thing in Josh Trank's leaden Fant4stic, but still came out looking like he'd done twelve rounds with the Thing. Less than six months on, however, Creed has entered the ring and reminded everyone why the former Wallace is consistently called "the next big thing". Adonis Creed is an incredibly fascinating character. An angry, sometimes violent orphan given a privileged upbringing, he makes the choice to follow in his father's footsteps while also wanting to be his own man. It's a swirl of contradiction that makes him incredibly distinct and instinctively relatable. In the first few scenes you can feel both the weight of the world against him and that fear of failure, and while much of that comes from Coogler's indelible observations of the real world, it's thanks to Jordan it works so well. He brings that same everyman likability, emphasised by his hard fought relationship with Bianca, which made Rocky himself so alluring in the first place, but can also hold himself in a fight, not only showing off those muscles, but able to really use them in the fights. Oh yes, the fights...