Whether it’s me teasing him about his irrational hatred of Marvel’s The Avengers or him ribbing me for thinking Pacific Rim was worth watching, Ed and I have spent many years now playfully mocking each other’s taste in movies.  No doubt you will soon see us battle on Twitter over whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie (which of course, it absolutely is.)

So when we both like a movie, you can bet it’s pretty good, and it turns out we agree:  Creed is a fantastic film. That’s doubly impressive considering there’s no way this movie should be good at all.  As Ed explained in his review, which you should all go read if you haven’t, it’s not only a sequel but also basically a reboot/spinoff featuring an entirely new character, and it’s exceedingly rare those are anything other than terrible cash grabs that everyone tries to forget about as soon as they leave the theater.

Unlike Ed, I have seen Rocky Balboa, and I was blown away by how great that one came out.  Bringing back an aged Rocky for another fight is the kind of thing that only happens in a parody, and yet it turned out to be an incredibly poignant film featuring a touching send off for the character and one of the greatest inspirational movie quotes of all time.

https://youtu.be/mk82j1jQw_8?t=113

Amazingly enough, Creed exceeds that achievement.  Stallone stepped back from writing and directing this one because he didn’t think a man of his years had the right perspective for it, and that decision paid off in spades.  New writer/director Ryan Coogler created a great modern take on the original Rocky story while still sprinkling it with enough homages to its predecessors to delight fans of the series.  It should serve as the standard going forward of how to take an old property in a new direction since it avoids all of the traps into which these kinds of reboot/sequel movies tend to plunge headfirst.

Speaking of direction, Coogler did a great job there too.  At first I was a little nervous because the beginning seemed somewhat choppy, but after that it just keeps getting better and better.  Like Ed noted, even the fights feel fresh because he puts the camera right in the ring and has the good sense not to get too tight, cut too quick, or shake the thing around like a cocaine-fueled toddler.  Combine that with some crafty use of surround sound and it really does put the audience right in Adonis Creed’s shoes.  (In fact the sound guys did their work too well. A couple of times I was ready to turn around and tell the person behind me to shut up only to realize it was actually Rocky yelling from the corner of the ring.)

If that weren’t enough, Michael B. Jordan easily burns away any doubt in his acting ability that might have been created by Fantastic Four with his performance here.  Rather than getting overshadowed by Stallone’s Rocky like the the last guy who asked to be mentored by the Italian Stallion, this is Jordan’s movie and he owns it.  At the same time, he and Stallone have a great rapport that makes their growing friendship feel entirely natural.  For his part, Stallone carries over the older Rocky he developed in Rocky Balboa to similarly great effect.

Ed thought Phylicia Rashad was wasted, but I’d say she made for a solid character cameo without wearing out her welcome.  She serves her purpose in the story without turning into an annoying nagging mom cliche.  Tessa Thompson did get shortchanged a bit though, as her character arc gets abandoned in favor of the maudlin Rocky-centric subplot Ed mentioned.

Even those things seem like nitpicks in otherwise great movie though.  So if you were hesitant about seeing a Rocky movie that wasn’t about Rocky, have no fear, this one’s a knock-out, easily earning a full five for me on Ed’s HotAir movie scale:

• 5 – Full price ticket
• 4 – Matinee only
• 3 – Wait for Blu-Ray/DVD/PPV rental or purchase
• 2 – Watch it when it hits Netflix/cable
• 1 – Avoid at all costs

Just hands down one of the best movies I’ve seen all year.  Go see it.

For more of what I think about entertainment and politics, follow me on Twitter @crankytrex or check out my other writing at buzzpo.com.