CREED

There was no better boxer than Apollo Creed, says Rocky Balboa. Then how could Rocky beat him? asks Apollo's son, who is beautifully named Adonis. "Time beat him," says Rocky. "Time, you know, takes everybody out. It's undefeated." Philosophy has always been part of the Rocky series; in the end, boxing is an allegory for all existence. In CREED, we see that time has marched on. The boxers are featured in glossy magazines. The boxing studio where Adonis starts his training is smooth and sterile. And Rocky must be coaxed out of retirement in order to train Creed's son because of his own ties to his father. Director Ryan Coogler needed two years to get Sylvester Stallone on board for this film. Stallone received a Golden Globe for best supporting actor and was nominated for an Oscar. This film revolves around Michael B. Jordan, though, and it won't be the only one: CREED 2, again starring Jordan, Stallone — and Dolph Lundgren! — is already planned. To prepare for a big fight, Rocky has his protégé perform some neat exercises, including catching chickens. When wrestling with happiness in his private life, Creed doesn't need to tiptoe around (compare this to Rocky's Adrian). Instead, he's dealing with Bianca (Tessa Thompson), a neighbor who turns the music up loud at night and who is focused on her own career as a singer. Technology makes it possible to film everything much more smoothly these days: One of Creed's fights flows through in a single, elegant panned shot. A little while later, he and Bianca battle each other with words in a series of quick cuts. The youngsters come, while the old-timers advise them and take on new opponents of their own: for coach Rocky, it's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Yet a central theme of the ROCKY series remains: it's not the referee who decides who's won our hearts.