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Creed: Gotta be Sly's Swansong


Creed marks the seventh silver screen coming of Sylvester Stallone's beloved movie character, Rocky Balboa and he isn't slowing down. Creed by all accounts has breathed a new life into a nearly fledgling franchise and appears to be most classically made after the very first film into franchise, Rocky (1976). This film again proves a theory that even an out-and-out commercial flick can become a work of art if it is helmed by a competent and thinking director. Ryan Coogler put some brain and a lot of heart in this money-churning machine and came out with a fine product that was third only to Rocky'76 and Rocky 3. It's a film that needs to be seen for his moving performances for we all know where sporting drama lead their audiences to with their all-too-familiar plots and yet you shall find yourselves contented.

Rocky'76 was the brainchild of a great brain and that brain belonged to Sylvester. He wrote it and film went onto become the one of the rarest of sporting dramas that won a best feature film Oscars. More so, in all these years, working-class American has kept it close to their heart and by doing that, gave it a cultural stroke. No wonder, Rocky'76 is today deemed a cultural phenomenon in USA. But then everyone realized that this film could span a franchise for who didn't love a 'box-movie' then with all the Mohammed Ali and Joe-Frazier saga going around? Rocky too boasted off two herculean warriors, Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa and they appeared up to the task in first Rocky. Then there was the ending of Rocky'76 which didn't show us an underdog (read Balboa) beating all the odds and overwhelming an established and all-conquering champion. It was a pragmatic ending and everyone related with it. So everyone thought, 'let's make some fine Rocky films and earn some money while doing that'. They made the money, alright but their first promise was lost while pursuing the second. Rocky no more belonged to 'Sly', it now belonged to big movie studios who equated it to a 'cash cow' and shamelessly harnessed its potential. With Rocky 6 and Stallone looking all tired and aged in the ring, it looked 'curtains' finally for a promising and beloved franchise.

I have read about Sly in detail. He always wanted to be an actor and not a cartoon hero and comic superhero. That's why he made 'Rocky' and when it made him a star, he I don't why deviated from the righteous path and went all out in pursuit of money. He launched another franchise in 'Rambo' where he portrayed a Vietnam hero, again picking up a character which was very close to all the Americans for thousands of Americans lost their lives and limbs in battlefields of Vietnam and Combodia. Sly made some more films. Many of them were 'terrible' and became both critical and commercial failures yet Sly's pay-cheque grew fatter with each passing year. He became restless at one point for this was not the real 'him'. He wanted to be an actor and a real one and thus took a courageous step. In 1998, he took up the role of a cop in a Robert De Niro film, 'The Good Shepherd' for no pay at all in order to show the artistic side of him. The film bagged not-so-great reviews and all of Sly's hopes tanked. He was again forced to take the easy rout of big money making films and knowing that Hollywood is as a ruthless place as it gets, he surrendered. One more successful franchise, 'The Expendables' followed.

However, every fairytale gets a happy ending. Sly's trusted his baby, Rocky, with a young director 'Ryan Coogler' but Coogler wasn't a novice. In 2013, he made a critically lauded film 'Fruitvale Station' and Creed Headliner, Micheal B. Johnson starred in that too. Coogler and Johnson were both promising and they showed their craft to perfection in 'Creed'. Being Apollo Creed's son was not an easy job, both off-screen and on-screen but his light shines the brightest in the film. Moreover, we get to Sly in a challenging role after a long while and he portrays the much reliable 'Rocky Balboa' yet again here albeit he has become a trainer and coach now to Johnson's character, Adonis 'Hollywood' Creed. He has played it to perfection and that's why Academy awarded him with a 'best supporting actor' nomination after 40 long years. He has already won the 'Golden Globe' in this category and thus remains a firm favorite for Oscars only if Mark Rylance of 'Bridge of Spies' doesn't decide to crash his party. But all these reasons aside along side strong probability of another spin off of Rocky franchise in form of Creed's and Sly reprising his 'Balboa' character in it again, Creed'15 is gotta be Sylvester Stallone's swansong. Sly has nailed it here and you all need to be a witness to this grandeur. Here is to Sly!!!!!!

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