Creed III

Well it kiiinda distinguishes itself from the first two movies. 

Not bad though, I still got involved with the story, I liked the characters, the focus of the fight, may have shed a tear or two, and I'll tell you this now if they legit did not want to go farther than this movie I would not be mad one tiny bit. I was really shocked when credits rolled and Michael actually directed this movie, cause I noticed severe quirks and methods of cinematography I hadn't seen before previously, I'm not sure if this is his first time directing but he did good work. The story focuses this time on the past of Adonis, which I like because we never truly got a grasp on it except briefly in the first film, where we see a childhood friend return after Adonis has retired and stirs up a bit of a rivalry to bring him into the ring once more. So yeah, kinda takes some cues from Rocky V! But I gotta tell you man the way they showcased that story was pretty profound atleast to me anyway, where Adonis has to get where Rocky was in Creed II, it's all about facing the demons of his past and to reconcile with them, to let go of years of guilt and just come to terms with how things happened. Cause Damian isn't immediately an antagonist, it almost seems like the movie is gonna cross into full blown thriller territory where he'll break into their house and do a bunch of crazy shit, but anyway you can tell there is some less than good history between the two and they don't immediately take advantage of one another. I greatly enjoyed the arc both Damian and Adonis go through, and the movie pushes that previously stated message even more so when you see Adonis still talks to Ricky and Viktor and holds no animosity in the slightest. Make peace with your past to better yourself in the future. That's a monumental message to people regardless of age or walks of life. Now I will call myself out hardcore on this, I did not know in the slightest that Sylvester Stallone stepped down from being Rocky, Creed II was his last. I did not know that. So the whole movie I kept wondering where is Rocky? Is he safe? Is he alright? And they make no direct comment or statement as to what happened between films. Now the movie truthfully is very good at visual storytelling to where if you pay attention to both background and foreground the movie tells you a lot. Bianca has stopped singing and has been producing gold records, significant time has passed since Amara has been born, and this film gets artsy, dare I say avant garde. It's pure metaphore, SYMBOLISM abound, and visually striking. You'll know it when you see it and I will give many props and great love to it because they just decided to go for that. The actors bring their A-game full force, I mean they always do but it really does make you stop and appreciate that at moments. The more I genuinely think about it the more I like it. And before I forget I fucking applaud Wood Harris as Duke, that guy gets to shine big time in this movie, he's always been there, always been a part of it but this gives him a lot of material. I appreciate that. As I was watching I thought, ehhh this so far is the weakest of the Creed series but now...I really don't think so. I'm almost stumped where I would rank it. I still feel the first movie is the best as a whole, but those sequels they give you something storywise and for the characters to where you can't count them out! So I'll just get to the rating and let you decide once you see it. 4 stars, 8/10, so check it out and see what it does for you. Apologies for kinda lacking in new releases up to this point, but hopefully this is a sign of getting back on track for the rest of the year.

In Retrospect: Creed II

I know some people consider this to be Rocky IV: Part Deux, but there's more to it than that.

If I'm being real honest I didn't ever expect them to pull out the Drago card this early, if anything between the release of Creed and before the trailers started coming out for Creed II, I figured the resolution of that 30 odd year conflict would be like the finale to the Creed series. Cause it really feels resolved but I feel not really in the way many people would think. This movie focuses almost exclusively on the drama aspect, these character's baggage, why exactly they want this fight to happen and I greatly appreciate the shift between the solution of these movies. Before the solution to Ivan Drago was to beat him down for the death of Apollo in an almost vendetta story, to defeat this massive oppresive Russian menace to our American boxing sport. But nowadays, it's just more complicated and I can truthfully see 2 points audience members can take from this: 1. This movie does not give clean cut reasons and explanations for why Adonis wants to fight Viktor Drago because I don't think even he has a full grasp on the answer. People love to have easy, clean, black and white reasons for things both in life and cinema and this movie doesn't give a lot of that. 2. There's no climactic TKO, the one punch that floors Viktor for the 10 count, it's through the history and actions of Ivan Drago that make him stop the fight. I can honestly see some audiences feel completely ripped off for not having a decisive winner. However! The movie goes out of it's way to add humanity, a little pathos, and the simple fact that anger and vengeance does not grant you victory through the father and son relationship of Ivan and Viktor. Rocky brings up that point with Adonis, that you can't let rage and revenge fester inside you and if you want to fight you need to have a real reason. Cause a lot happens for Adonis in this movie that progresses his character and defining of why he fights, he marries Bianca, they have a daughter, he moves to L.A., and he becomes the heavyweight champion of the world. That's a lot of life changing events in a relatively short span of time, and it by shittin' hell makes you think and act different in life. Rocky seems to be more on the mend and not as sick but you can tell a lot of pain, a lot of regret, and a lot of fear is on his conscience. Cause he got a bit of closure with Drago but he still lost his friend and it shows, to where he steps away from training Adonis. This movie just works so well with the emotional aspect of this story and these characters, I almost wouldn't call it a sports movie despite there being training and matches, it's not really the focus here. In some aspects I think this movie is greater than the first, the writing is great, the acting gets pushed further, and you get invested real quick because of it. Yet on the other hand, despite it being well shot it's not as well directed as the first, I actually forgot Ryan Coogler was shooting Black Panther at the time, the soundtrack was good but not as strong as the first, but those are truthfully small potatos because it still had it's moments to shine in it's own respect. It ain't bad, I'd be lying straight out of my ass if I said it was bad or even just okay. A very strong continuation and a great movie regardless. 4 stars from me, 8/10! Although I did have this slightly horrifying thought come to mind of, what if Creed III went the way of Rocky III and it just started to go a bit off the rails and get ridiculous? Cause there is a clear and distinct divide between the styles of the first two Rocky movies and Rocky III and IV, I love them all do not get me wrong, but that would be a twist wouldn't it? I highly doubt they would go that way but only time will tell come Friday.

In Retrospect: Creed

It wouldn't be a part of the Rocky series if it didn't make at least one tear fall.

I told you it was gonna be unorthodox. I feel I have to apologize though when I first reviewed this movie cause I feel I did it a huge disservice despite the praise I gave it way back when. It truly is more than just a repackaged Rocky 1, it is a goddamn great film in my opinion. If memory serves correct here I believe this was the first movie I ever did see Michael B. Jordan in and boy what a tremendous first experience, he truly does carry the legacy of Creed and I know Carl Weathers gave him some strong love and respect cause he really did earn it. Just the passion of Adonis involved for the sport, to prove he is his own man and not just Apollo's son, the relationship between him and Rocky, I mean it's just compelling even moving storytelling. It's pretty ballsy to make Rocky have cancer in this movie, but it makes every word Sylvester Stallone says that much more important and it is there with purpose. And that's the only real way I could describe this film, it has purpose, a drive, a reason to be. Cause through real world tragedy of Sly loosing his kid Sage, he didn't want to do this in the slightest but it was through the dedication and passion Ryan Coogler had for this series that he accepted, it shows in every aspect. This was no movie made for monetary gain or to give just one more film to the fans for the fun of it. There's a story worth telling, actors who make it come to life, and directed by someone who made it all happen as well as it did. You take as much as it gives, and if you step back and appreciate it all you'll find a lot to love. Just as one example, I was so immersed in it I never noticed just how many long tracking shots there are, the film crew have free reign with this camera and they go a while before they call cut which shows a highly professional film crew and actors who nail it big time. The movie has more emphasis on the training aspect which I love greatly, you could almost argue it's the point of the film, and that's one particular thing I think the Rocky series does better than any other movie. Anybody can have a training montage, but with these movies it is essential to the story and more importantly the character dynamic and progression. It tells the story without a single expository line, you need your Gonna Fly Now, you need your No Easy Way Out, you need Eye Of The Tiger, not for the kickass-ness of the song but for the character arc. It's just super well made and I know I can gush about it even longer than I have but I'll let the numbers speak for themselves. Since that was the dark ages before I adopted a score system, this will put it on record. Of course it gets a full 4 gold stars, I give it an 8.5/10, and next time will be my second viewing of Creed II.

The World's Fastest Indian

It's quite obvious I'm far from a motor enthusiast, least of all here but the examples I've touched upon are mighty good films.

I've heard mention of this film for quite some years now and after finally seeing it I can safely say I'm very happy I saw it. The film centers on Burt Munro who travels from New Zealand to Utah to have his bike timed on the salt flats with the aspiration to go 200 mph as we follow his journey and trials getting there, it's a simple story yet endearing and has it's charm. I actually quite like how you can see three sections of the film as different genres in and of themselves. The first part kinda gave me Up vibes with eccentric old man having a friendship with a young boy as he starts taking the steps to make his big dream come true, then when he hits the States it becomes a road trip movie with Burt making many friends along the way cause he's just that swell of a guy, and the final third when he reaches the event it turns to a do or die final push like any true sports movie with thankfully no antagonist to be found. It's a good story and nearly the entire film hinges on the performance of our lead, and Anthony Hopkins does give it his all. He really fits the persona of Burt, very nice and laidback, affable with strangers, and gives some understated yet nevertheless good advice and insights to being older. The whole supporting cast is great, and while you only spend a bit of time with each you like every one of them. All the location shooting is great, and I of course always give praise to New Zealand even if it's more suburban scenery like in this film it just looks like a grand place to live, but the shooting around Los Angeles and along the way to Utah is shot really nice but the undisputed best shot is when he finally gets to the salt flats and the camera really shows off the expanse of the scenery. And you get a healthy dose of motorcycling, and it does build up quite nicely to the final run which to my knowledge has still to this day, 54 years later hasn't been beaten which is pretty remarkable. It's a simple, quaint, yet really charming and just plain nice film that doesn't waste any time and gives you something worth watching. 4 stars, 8/10, hello September and the wait has begun.