Son of Apollo saved from life of crime, With one step, one punch, one round at a time
“I don’t know what I’m doing here,” says retired boxer-cum-humble restaurateur Rocky Balboa after agreeing to help the illegitimate son of Apollo Creed (Michael B. Jordan as Adonis “Hollywood Donnie” Johnson) train for a world title fight. “I had other plans for my life,” he adds. “And this wasn’t it.” A thought which must have crossed the mind of 69-year-old Sylvester Stallone who, having directed all six of the previous films in the franchise which supposedly ended on a high with the critically-acclaimed and hugely popular Rocky Balboa in 2006, has handed both the directorial and writing batons over to Ryan Coogler who impressed with his 2013 feature-length debut Fruitvale Station about the real-life murder of Oscar Grant, an innocent young black man (again played by Jordan) who lost his life at the hands of a trigger-happy white San Francisco cop.
Stallone, it has to be said, is terrific. Bringing all the humour, wisdom and vulnerability which we know he is capable of delivering but all too rarely see on the big screen. Jordan is perfectly cast as the driven newcomer who, thanks to Creed’s widow Mary Anne (Phylicia Rashad), overcomes a troubled childhood in a juvenile detention centre and swaps a collar-and-tie job in finance for the star-spangled trunks of his late father because, as he says towards the end of the film, “I want to prove that I’m not a mistake”. And director Ryan Coogler and his co-writer Aaron Covington build upon the domestic realism, artful storytelling and life-affirming pulse of life which characterised Fruitvale Station.
As for the film itself, Rocky would not be Rocky without oodles of preposterousness and the seventh in the sequence is no different. For example, in the final round of the final fight, Adonis’s left eye swells so much that he makes The Elephant Man look like Brad Pitt; the drama, at times, verges on the melo-; and the training sequence in the hospital, although funny, is as far-fetched as anything in the franchise. But the good by far outweighs the not so. Humour is never far from the surface, particularly at the expense of the technophobic Rocky who looks to the sky in bemusement after being told by Adonis that the mobile picture he has just taken of a hastily scribbled boxing drill is stored “in the cloud”.
The fighting sequences, although sparse, are impressive; especially the one between Creed and Leo “The Lion” Sporino which consists of two rounds of two single tracking shots. And the stirring theme tune originally composed by Bill Conti – which is only aired in two short snippets: one tender, the other all trumpets blaring – fair tugs at the heart strings. Is it great? No. Is it watchable? Very much so. Should they finally throw in the towel on the billion dollar franchise? I hope so. Because, like the previous sequel, it ends on a literal high with Rocky climbing, or rather hobbling, up the infamous 72 steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, looking back over the city, his life and career, and concluding, fittingly, “not bad at all!”
Verdict: 4/5
by Peter Callaghan
Director: Ryan Coogler
Writers: Ryan Coogler, Aaron Covington
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson,
Phylicia Rashad, Tony Bellew, Ritchie Coster, Graham McTavish
Release: 15 Jan 2016 Rating: 12A Running Time: 133 mins
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