On this, Stallone and Coogler agreed.
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The “Rocky” star didn’t exactly jump at the idea.
“So I learned to love it when I started seeing results”, he tells Men’s Fitness. “But I was like, ‘It’s all good”.
Unless you are Ryan Coogler, that is, who I think might be a genius. With Apollo’s spirit hovering over him (quite literally in one great scene where Donnie shadowboxes his dad), he fights underground in Tijuana, building an amateur record and doing what he loves-what his father loved. “I guess what I’m trying to say, is that if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change!”.
“If I fight, you fight”. “You might have heard of it – we did $200 at the box office'”.
“He’s a fantastic actor”, Stallone said of his 28-year-old co-star.
They were smart to call “Creed” what they did, because really, would anyone have wanted to see “Rocky 7?”
“It was kind of a weighty-ness that you live so much, and are you going to be able to pass this on, because otherwise, why are you even there?”
This was before Coogler’s first feature, “Fruitvale Station”, won honors at the Sundance and Cannes film festivals and heralded him and Jordan as talents to watch. As Rocky puts it in the marvelous new Creed: “Time takes everybody out”. I’d probably go out a lot more.
Indeed, as the popularity of boxing has waned over the decades, some may wonder whether the almost 40-year-old franchise has the resonance it once did. He added that this is Rocky at his weakest and that he is in a different fight this time around, much more dramatic and emotional.
He reluctantly adopts his father’s name and pressures the retired Rocky into training him for a championship bout. There’s nothing in the story to shock or surprise you. “That’s a testament to Sly and this guy”, he said, pointing to Coogler. We will discover that Apollo had an affair, and Adonis was born just after Apollo died to the Russian in Rocky IV. Creed isn’t a paint-by-numbers boxing flick regurgitating the winning element of the past Rocky films, but a movie dedicated on building its own legacy unique from those that came before it. “It’s something in between, which is how life is”. The nearest one is Ryan Coogler’s “Creed”. The superhero style also explains the use of familiar symbols and motifs: famous places, landmarks, musical themes (Bill Conti’s “Gonna Fly”), costumes.
Mr. Stallone is affecting not only as Rocky, but as Sylvester Stallone taking on, yet again, the Rocky character. When a computer simulation shows that his younger self would beat the reigning heavyweight champ, he comes out of retirement for an exhibition match to prove that he can still go the distance. He laughed. “He’s still in shape”.
Adonis and Bianca’s storyline seems unfair to be compared to Rocky and Adrian’s, however, it was just as good if not better.
The clash between Rocky’s old-school ways and Adonis’ modern existence is immediately apparent.
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With Oscar prognosticators speculating that he could land a supporting actor nomination for his understated performance, Stallone is basking in Rocky’s unexpected resurrection. Creed channels that emotional energy and steers the franchise in interesting new directions while staying true to its roots.
