On Creed

The Hateful Eight (2015) received many glowing reviews, even being referred to as a masterpiece. The masterful score and opening shot of a crucifix promise much that the following three hours do not deliver. Yet, what is particularly confounding about The Hateful Eight are the allusions that have been made to the film as a comment on contemporary racial issues in America. If these links exist in Tarantino’s western they are tenuously commented on by critics too eager to see an angry black character in a sea of white and jump.

However, there is a one film, arriving only a few weeks after The Hateful Eight that does offer a commentary on black lives in modern day America and it arrives within the unlikely franchise that is Rocky. The film, of course, is Creed.

Creed follows the son of Apollo Creed from the early Stallone films as he is born fatherless and brought up in inner city foster care, violent and resentful of the system, unable to back down when challenged nor accept help when offered. An issue that is true of many young inner city boys. When Creed leaves the inherited wealth of Los Angeles to train in Philadelphia we see a side to life in America that isn’t regularly offered by big budget franchise films. There is an gritty authenticity to these scenes that make up the middle part of the film that are missing elsewhere and that is perhaps because director Ryan Coogler is more at home on those streets. There are scenes that feel improvised or spontaneously caught, a comment you could rarely aim at such a big budget film. Coogler’s first feature, Fruitvale Station (2013), is an examination of the death of Oscar Grant in San Francisco, perhaps highlighting that his focus for Creed is an ideology he wishes to push. Character matters to Coogler. More than falling back into the safety of a popular franchise.

The film isn’t about Creed’s ethnicity, but through his journey there is a commentary on the struggle of inner city teenagers that is communicated through Coogler’s roaming camera that observes rather than judges his characters and extras. A scene with Philadelphia bikers surrounding Creed as he trains feels both magnificently staged and genuine. Creed may start hesitantly and end as you might expect, but in between this is a great piece of film making.