Rocky V was a huge mistake. After four successful, crowd-pleasing movies about Italian-American boxer Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone pressed his luck with a fifth one released in 1990 that everyone hated, mostly thanks to the fact that it was about Rocky training a punk kid nobody liked. (Rocky was also kind of a jerk in the movie, which undercut this charm from the first four films.) For years, that’s how the Rocky franchise sat: a perfect first movie, three beloved sequels, and one universally-despised dumpster fire.
That bothered Stallone. Rocky was his breakthrough character. He had written the screenplay in the 1970s and held out on a deal until a studio agreed for him to play the lead. The film became a hit and went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars. Rocky meant a lot to Stallone and he hated that his signature character might end on such a down-note. So he wrote, directed, and starred in 2006’s Rocky Balboa, which saw an aged Rocky prove he’s still got it in one last fight. The movie perfectly hit the mark for fans of the franchise and was clearly meant to be the end of the story.
Few people expected to see Rocky again, especially not as a trainer like in Rocky V, but that’s precisely the position he filled when he returned to the big screen for a whole new franchise which eventually became the Creed trilogy. All three of those films are excellent, and they’re all leaving Netflix on August 31, so it’s worth catching them before the bell rings.
Released in 2015, Creed tells the story of the estranged son of Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers’ character from the first four Rocky films). Apollo Creed defeated Rocky in the first film. Then Rocky beat him in a rematch for Rocky II. In Rocky III, Creed trained Rocky and the two became like brothers, but Creed dies at the hands of Russian boxer Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) in Rocky IV, which motivates Rocky to avenge his friend in the ring.
That might seem like a bit of a tangent that’s more about the Rocky movies, but it ends up laying the groundwork for what’s great about the Creed trilogy.
In the first Creed, which was directed by Ryan Coogler, Apollo’s son, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), seeks out Rocky to train him as a boxer. While Rocky is initially reluctant, he eventually agrees due to his love for Apollo. Following all the best tropes of movies about boxing, Adonis manages to become a successful boxer.
The saga continues
Creed II (2018) is when things get really interesting, especially for longtime fans of the franchise. In this movie, Adonis agrees to fight the son of Ivan Drago, making it, essentially, a direct sequel to both Creed and Rocky IV, and a very satisfying one at that. Once again, Rocky trains Adonis for the fight, as he has a very personal investment in this one.
After Coogler directed the first movie, Steven Caple Jr. (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) directed the sequel, but for Creed III, Michael B. Jordan himself took over the helm for his directorial debut. In that movie, Adonis faces the franchise’s best villain in “Diamond” Dame Anderson (Jonathan Majors). When Adonis was a kid, Dame was his best friend and sparked his interest in boxing. However, Dame’s promising young career came to an end when he went to jail for a crime committed by Adonis. After Adonis becomes a boxing superstar, Dame is released from prison and challenges Adonis for his title.
Unfortunately, Stallone wasn’t in this movie due to his aversion to its darker tone and an ongoing feud with producer Irwin Winkler. His absence is definitely felt in the film, but that doesn’t stop it from being great. Currently, a fourth Creed film is in the works which, hopefully, will see the return of Stallone as Rocky.
Until then, it’s worth catching the Creed trilogy, even if you’ve never seen a Rocky movie. While the trilogy certainly is more rewarding if you know all the lore involved, Coogler set the groundwork for a new series of films where you can enjoy them all on their own, which is entirely worth doing while they’re still on Netflix.