Creed

If one hasn't been a fan of the 'Rocky" sagas, watching this sixth version of what had become a predictive and dull series, you wouldn't expect this film, "Creed"written by Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington, and directed by Coogler, to have turned out so extraordinarily well.

But because Coogler took what has become, since the 1976 debut of the first one of the series, the Academy Award-winning Best Picture, "Rocky," a series of violent boxing clich�s, and turned them all on its head by emphasizing character-driven story-telling.

In it, young Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan), not knowing he is the son of Apollo Creed, is now in his early-20s and adrift, fatherless and unmoored. When he finds out that his father was a famous boxer, who died in the ring just before Adonis was born, and was a friend of a now-retired boxing champion, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), he convinces Balboa to train him as a championship boxer.

Aside from the violence of the ring, which in the hands of a genius such as Martin Scorsese and his superb work on "Raging Bull" (1980), is what we should always be looking for - and what was in the original - the psychology of fighting, not just the brawn. While the art of boxing can be as intricate as ballet, it is more than just brutality, and Coogler and his team have choreographed it and photographed beautifully. And, if you are into the beating part, they've made it less brutal than it is in real life.

Jordan was, undoubtedly, robbed of an Oscar-nomination for his terrific work here: sensitive, dogmatic, powerful. And what a disappointment for Stallone, in his best acting role since the original "Rocky," when lost out to a superior actor, Mark Rylance, in the Supporting Actor category, as Stallone was the sentimental favorite of the evening. But you can't have everything, and even if he died tomorrow, his work in this film would be a fitting epitaph of his career.

All the actors shine here, especially the beautiful Tessa Thompson as the young woman who makes Adonis believe in his abilities (yes, a serious clich�, but made realer by their chemistry), after his mother, Mary Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad) has given him permission to go to Philadelphia and find Balboa.

At 2� hours, the film never lags and rushes to a fine ending. If you enjoyed the film, which I did, then you'll enjoy the Bonus section, wherein they explain how they made the film and how Jordan trained for the role. When honestly presented, these small documentaries fill in the gaps in our knowledge of any subject.

"Creed"
Blu-ray
$22.99