Thrilling ‘Creed’ rescues the ‘Rocky’ legacy

By relieving Sylvester Stallone of the writing duties (for the first time) and directing (for the third time) and allowing him to concentrate solely on acting, Ryan Coogler (“Fruitvale Station”) has managed to rescue the “Rocky” legacy after a series of diminishing, and even downright disastrous, returns.

The best “Rocky” movie since the original, “Creed” is a loose, carbon copy remake of the 1977 best picture winner, with Stallone’s Rocky Balboa sliding into the role of the crusty trainer, a la Burgess Meredith’s Mickey Goldmill. (If you want to feel ancient, Stallone is the same age — 69 — as Meredith was in “Rocky.”)

Last seen in “Rocky Balboa,” putting flowers on his beloved wife Adrian’s grave after improbably taking the current heavyweight champ to a split decision at Mandalay Bay, the pride of Philadelphia wants nothing to do with boxing. He’s content running his restaurant, Adrian’s, and going home to his pet turtle. (Rocky’s son, Robert, has left town, and Paulie, having died between films, is buried next to Adrian.)

But when self-taught fighter Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) shows up at Adrian’s knowing more than he should about Rocky’s legendary battles with the late Apollo Creed, Rocky gets curious. And when Adonis, who goes by Donnie, reveals he’s Apollo’s illegitimate son, Rocky treats him like family. He still doesn’t have any interest in training Donnie, though. After all, he tried that with Tommy Gunn in “Rocky V,” and no one should ever revisit anything that happened in “Rocky V.”

Born after Apollo was killed in the ring by Ivan Drago in “Rocky IV,” Donnie was raised in group homes and juvenile detention facilities until Apollo’s widow, Mary Anne (Phylicia Rashad), tracked him down and adopted him. Despite living the good life, Donnie has fighting in his blood. So, after a series of low-level bouts in Tijuana, he quits his white-collar job and moves out of his palatial estate and into a dumpy apartment in North Philly to focus on boxing full time.

He soon falls for his downstairs neighbor, Bianca (Tessa Thompson), a young singer-songwriter with progressive hearing loss. But once Donnie finally convinces Rocky to train him, the former heavyweight champ takes him into his home, moving Donnie into Paulie’s former bedroom among the neon beer signs and the copies of Swank magazine.

Before long, they’re revisiting most of the old “Rocky” training regimens: the one-handed push-ups, the triumphant run through the city streets, even trying to catch a chicken as in “Rocky II.” (When Donnie finally catches one, Rocky dryly responds, “Chickens are slowin’ down.”) You won’t see Donnie chugging raw eggs, because, cholesterol? And he doesn’t get to pound slabs of beef, which you probably can chalk up to tougher food safety regulations. (Thanks, Obama.)

It’s all part of a touching bonding ritual that leaves Rocky treating Donnie like a son, and Donnie sweetly referring to him as “Unc,” as they head toward a climactic fight in Liverpool, England, with hometown favorite “Pretty” Ricky Conlan (boxer Anthony Bellew).

Reunited with his “Fruitvale Station” writer-director Coogler, who co-wrote “Creed” with Aaron Covington, Jordan is properly charismatic and convincing as Donnie. Stallone, meanwhile, is the best he’s been in at least a decade, probably going all the way back to 1997’s “Cop Land.”

With this loving tribute, and in just his second feature film, Coogler puts his own stamp on the “Rocky” franchise, thanks in part to his staging of Donnie’s first true fight. Shot in real time as the camera bobs and weaves along with Donnie, the absurdly long take is exhilarating as it briefly turns “Creed” into boxing’s answer to “Birdman.”

While “Rocky Balboa” was a literal stroll down memory lane, revisiting landmarks such as the pet shop and ice skating rink from the original, “Creed” is more subtle. Donnie spends some time in his dad’s Delphi Gym, which is now run by Tony “Little Duke” Burton (Wood Harris), whose father trained Apollo and Rocky. He also sweats it out in Rocky’s old gym, Mighty Mick’s. But there are echoes of the original “Rocky” throughout, from Donnie’s Adrian-like romance with Bianca down to his getting a title shot only as a publicity stunt because of another fighter’s injury.

“Creed” is the third attempt, after “Rocky V” and “Rocky Balboa,” to retire Stallone’s iconic character. But it’s such a thrilling, poignant tale — not just a good boxing movie, but a good movie in general — that more installments certainly would be welcomed.

I’d pay good money to see Donnie fight Ivan Drago’s kid. Maybe Clubber Lang’s nephew. Even Thunderlips’ third cousin’s brother-in-law.

Just no one who’s ever even laid eyes on Tommy Gunn.

As therapeutic as it might be, that clown’s already done enough damage.

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com. On Twitter: @life_onthecouch