Creed

It takes a real man to admit that he was wrong. I am a real man and I can at least admit when I was wrong. 

Yes I am a Rocky fan. Have been since I was a child and was introduced to Rocky III and was soon introduced to the WWF through Hulk Hogan’s appearance in the film as well as become a fan of boxing and MMA and have closely followed the series through all of the films.

The films have greatly influenced my life as well as the lives of many others.

When I first heard the announcement for Creed I was none too happy to find out about the plot as I thought that Rocky Balboa was the best way to finish out the series. I thought that the film would suck.

I was also not happy to find out that Burt Young and Tony Evers would not be in the film. Next to Stallone these characters are main stays in the franchise as they have been in all of the films.

Now on the plus side I always felt that there was much to be done with the character of Apollo Creed and when the character was killed in the fourth installment at the hands of Ivan Drago the character and his legacy was all but dropped, with the exception of a few mentions in the next two films.

I apparently was not the only one.

Hot off the success of Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler pitched the idea to Stallone of a spinoff film that followed the son of Apollo Creed as he starts his fighting career and is trained by Balboa.

Fruitvale Station also starred Michael B. Jordan in the role of the ill-fated Oscar Grant and would take on the Title Role of Adonis “Donnie” Creed.

We soon learn that Donnie is the illegitimate son of Apollo and after the death of his biological mother found himself falling thru the  cracks of the system and getting into fights landing himself in Juvenile detention until one day he is found by Mary-Ann Creed and raised as her own.

Now where many people will think that this is history repeating it’s self we soon learn that Adonis has been given the best education and has a great life lined up before him but wants the path of a championship boxer.

Being spurned by Mary-Ann and Apollo’s Academy including the son of Duke,  Donnie travels to Philadelphia where he seeks out Rocky Balboa.

Rocky is pretty much where we left him nearly a decade ago running his restaurant and visiting the grave of his late wife and now his best friend Paulie and soon decides to take on Donnie as his protégé.

While Donnie is romancing a young singer Bianca Rocky soon finds that he is ill and fighting his most deadly opponent…Cancer.

This was an amazing story that while watching with a packed house and hearing the reactions of the attendees who were all into the flick from beginning to end with the humor and highs and lows in emotions in the flick. There was even many with tears in the theatre.

The Camera work was amazing and I am going to get many dirty looks but this was probably the best fight in the sequels from a technical and story perspective.

The film also maintains continuity to the Rocky series and answers the question as to who won the third fight between Rocky and Apollo in the end of the third film. 

There is also a scene where Rocky shows a picture of his son and it is of Sage Stallone who played the character in Rocky V. Sadly Sage passed away in 2012.  

I want to say that I was impressed with Stallone but I have always had him pegged as a great actor and filmmaker but I was more impressed with Jordan who could stand next to Stallone playing the character of Rocky Balboa and still maintain to keep the focus on the film on the Creed character.

Credit also needs to go to Tessa Thompson for her performance as Bianca.

There is already talks of a sequel.

5 Stars

Check it out

Homefront

As I stated in a recent review that Sylvester Stallone is an accomplished filmmaker and I have to admit that I am a fan of his work, I have just left a screening of his recent Homefront and I know what you are all thinking that isn’t a Stallone film and I have to say that yes it is. Sly wrote the adapted the screenplay as well as produced the film.

Based on the novel by Chuck Logan Homefront follows Logan’s famous character Phil Broker (Jason Statham), a DEA agent who after a bust where the son of the man that he arrested was killed Broker resigns from the DEA and two years later after the death of his wife moves with his daughter to a small town in Louisiana.

After his daughter gets into a scuffle which leads to a confrontation with the parents and after Broker defends himself the mother (Kate Bosworth) enlists the aid of her brother Gator (James Franco) who is the local meth kingpin.

Eventually Gator learns Broker’s identity and decides to sell this information to the incarcerated drug lord who still blames Broker for the death of his son.

Gator is aided by his girlfriend (Winona Ryder) all leading to a action-packed and explosive climax.

I was amazed by the cast of the film, Winona Ryder in particular just this flick Ryder is definitely playing against type which I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised and felt like she should be on Sons of Anarchy in the near future.

I also want to point out Clancy Brown is once again playing the local Sheriff which seems to be the role that he is constantly playing. He played the Sheriff in Pet Cemetery 2, Sleepy Hollow, and now this flick. I am not complaining because I know that Brown has far more range from the Kurgan to Lex Luthor. I never get tired of this actor.

With Kate Bosworth and the location I at times felt that I was watching the Straw Dogs remake and James Franco is also great in the film.

Homefront is a flick that will definitely find its audience in home video and should not be long till it is on Netflix and On Demand.  

Worth a look

5 Dead Bodies

0 Breasts

1 Explosion

1 Car Chase with no crash and burn

Gratuitous Aerial Footage of the roads and rivers

2 ½ Stars  

The Escape Plan

There are some people that I have to say that they still have it. There are some that many say don’t have it anymore. These two fall in the former. I don’t know what It is but Sly and Arnold I’ll still see a flick that they are in and this flick is a double treat.

Now let us look back in the past almost 20 years ago when these two had their own friendly rivalry. Now I have to admit that I was more of a fan of Stallone than Arnold but that is my own preference as my friend Keath is an avid Arnold Schwarzenegger fan.

Now as far as my days when I was into bodybuilding many will credit Arnold but I have to admit that I leaned more towards Ferrigno as my inspiration. However in my career as a filmmaker I often credit Stallone as one of my many inspirations.

Not that I am counting out Schwarzenegger I love his flick but if I had to pick one it would be Stallone.

Now both of them have their Iconic characters Arnold as we all know is the Terminator as well as his roles in the original Predator and as John Matrix in Commando.

Granted Arnold had a couple of flicks that I have been trying to forget such as Junior, and Batman and Robin.

Stallone has always returned to his own sagas with the Rambo and Rocky and Expendables films and he has also had a few misses like Stop or my Mom Will Shoot.

Stallone is also a skilled writer and director while Schwarzenegger has remained in the public eye with his efforts as the Governor of California which I am not going to comment on the outcome on that since I don’t live there yet.

Now The Escape Plan would have more impact but the Expendables beat it to the punch which is why this film probably didn’t get the attention that it deserved but that is the business.

The Escape Plan follows the character of Ray Breslin (Stallone) who makes his living breaking out of prisons and helping them work on their security with his partners. When hired by the government to work on a State of the Art Government prison Breslin is betrayed and kept in the prison under the cruel treatment by Warden Willard Hobbes (Jim Caviezel) there he meets Emil Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger) who becomes his partner in the efforts to break out of the prison.

Now many will complain about the age of the characters but in this flick it works as their age is pretty much worked in the script and there isn't any romantic subplot with female characters like there often is in films like this because let's face it nobody really wants the see that. 

The movie also has a great supporting cast with Vincent D'Onofrio and Faran Tahir. 

Vinnie Jones is also in the film as the lead henchman of the Warden and deserves credit for his contributions to the films that he plays in.

This flick is what It is. I honestly want to say that I felt like I was a kid again watching an action flick but this is a different day and age and the flick is definitely worth checking out with a six-pack and a good stogie.

12 Dead Bodies

0 Breasts

3 explosions

9 on the testosterone meter

Definitely check it out