FILM REVIEW OF ''CREED" (2015)

Movie sequels thrive on similarity.  Sequels either carbon copy the original or follow-up it up with something similar but different.  “Fruitvale Station” writer-director Ryan Coogler’s “Creed” (***1/2 OUT OF ****), starring Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone, could have taken advantage of an obvious franchise title like “Rocky 7.” Mind you, Stallone returns as Rocky Balboa, but he doesn’t put on the gloves.  Nevertheless, like his struggling protagonist, Coogler sought to deliver something similar but different with the Oscar-winning franchise.  Indeed, “Creed” does carbon copy a lot of the original “Rocky” (1976), but the action occurs from the perspective of an African-American.  Sophomore helmer Coogler and co-scribe Aaron Covington focus on the late Apollo Creed’s illegitimate son, so the film qualifies more as a spin-off.  An aspiring pugilist in his own right who since his youth has refused to knuckle under to adversity, Adonis Johnson insists on carving out a name and a reputation for himself without exploiting his father’s legacy.  Like Rocky, Adonis has boxing in his blood. Unfortunately, despite his undefeated light-heavyweight record of fifteen knock-outs in Mexican boxing matches, our hero cannot recruit a trainer.  Predictably, Adonis must surmount similar obstacles to those Rocky faced to arrange a bout with a champ. Along the way, Adonis redeems himself, respects the father that he never knew, and appreciates the mentor who prepares him for the arena—Rocky Balboa.

“Creed” opens in 1998, in a Los Angeles County jail, as a wayward youth, Adonis (Alex Henderson of “Supremacy”) is getting beaten up by an older adolescent because his opponent uttered ill words about his late mother.  Before the jailers can break-up the brawl, Adonis devastates his enemy.  Later, as he is cooling off in a holding cell, Adonis is surprised when Apollo Creed’s wife Mary Ann Creed (Phylicia Rashad of “Good Deeds”) persuades him to come home with her. Subsequently, “Creed” flashes forward to 2015. An older, adult Adonis (Michael B. Jordan of “Chronicle”) knocks out a competitor at a weekend boxing tournament in Tijuana, Mexico.  The following day at work, despite having gotten a promotion, Adonis resigns because the job doesn’t suit him.  He fails to attract a trainer at the Los Angeles-based Delphi Gym where his father got his start. The owner displays nothing but contempt for him.  An irate Adonis promises his Mustang to anyone who can deck him, and Danny 'Stuntman' Wheeler (newcomer Andre Ward) promptly puts him to sleep.  Adonis bids goodbye to Mary Ann, and relocates to Philadelphia, where he approaches Rocky about training him.  Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) still runs the same restaurant that he managed in “Rocky Balboa,” but his wife Adrian and his quarrelsome pal Paulie have both passed away.  Initially, Rocky refuses Adonis’s offer.  Nevertheless, the tenacious Adonis keeps bugging him and eventually persuades the Italian Stallion to teach him. The training montages are both amusing and challenging.  Rocky clocks Adonis chasing chickens in a coop to enhance his timing.  While he sits in the gym reading the newspaper with his spectacles, Rocky has Adonis skipping rope and shadow boxing.  At one point, Rocky changes the gym where they train and Adonis has to follow him on foot while he drives his van across town.  The training sequences will make you perspire, but “Creed” never captures the gritty atmosphere of “Rocky.”  If you remember the original “Rocky,” our woebegone hero earned spare change as muscle for a small-time Mafioso.  Moreover, Rocky groveled under the harsh verbal abuse of a trainer.  Comparatively, the college-educated Adonis has squirreled away sufficient funds to survive until his big break. 

After Adonis has settled into his Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, apartment, he finds it difficult to sleep because a downstairs dweller plays her music loud enough to make the floor thump.  Adonis meets Bianca (Tessa Thompson of “Selma”), and they are attracted to each other.  Whereas Rocky and Adrian in “Rocky” were eking out an existence, Adonis and Bianca are half-way up the ladder.  Just as Rocky is transforming Adonis into a top flight contender, the former champ encounters serious medical tribulations that threaten to disrupt their best-laid plans. At the same time, Bianca learns that Adonis has been concealing his heritage from her as Apollo’s illegitimate son. The friendship between Rocky and Adonis and their tenacity to survive everything that life hurls at them elevates “Creed” as an inspirational experience.  Of course, the savvy filmmakers draw on our sentiments while Rocky struggles to conquer his medical woes. Naturally, things take an upbeat turn when a pugnacious English pugilist, 'Pretty' Ricky Conlan (three time ABA Heavyweight Champion Tony Bellew), challenges Adonis to a fight on HBO. Tony Bellow’s ‘Pretty Ricky’ is reminiscent of Mr. T’s Clubber Lang from “Rocky 3,” and the blood and guts fisticuffs will have you shadow-boxing before the bell sounds.

Although he plays second fiddle to Michael B. Jordan’s prizefighter, Sylvester Stallone steals the picture with a heartfelt performance.  Stallone served as one of the producers of “Creed,” but “Creed” doesn’t channel the same vibe of Stallone’s “Rocky” movies.  The music differs considerably, and the bittersweet experience of another underdog who triumphs isn’t entirely alike. Interestingly enough, this distinguishes “Creed” from the six previous “Rocky” epics.  Coogler stays away from the cute dialogue that Stallone used in his movies.  Meantime, the chemistry between the gung-ho Jordan and reluctant Stallone is palatable.  They appear as a believable team, and Stallone doesn’t have to ham it up to contend with his young co-star.  A sizzling romance between Jordan and Tessa Thompson’s hearing impaired nightclub warbler gives our hero added dimension. Of course, when everything boils down to the final, big bout, “Creed” cashes in on the unbeatable “Rocky” formula.  “Creed” may not clinch any Oscars, though talk has been echoing that Stallone will land a Best Supporting Oscar, but it is contagiously entertaining, not only as a date movie but also as a movie about human beings without CGI special effects. A refreshing change from the usual “Rocky” antics, “Creed” pumps fresh blood into old franchise.

FILM REVIEW OF "GUTSHOT STRAIGHT" (2014)

"CSI" regular George Eads plays a snake-bitten Las Vegas gambler with a knack for getting himself knee-deep in trouble in "Gutshot Straight" (* OUT OF ****) named Jack. Eads makes a convincing but hopeless nobody, and he looks nothing like the sympathetic crime scene investigator that he portrays on the CBS-TV television series. Instead, he portrays the kind of character who you'd neither want to meet nor hang out with because he is a loser. Happily, "Death and Cremation" director Justin Steele surrounds him with a veteran cast of familiar tough-guys, including Stephen Lang, Vinnie Jones, Steven Seagal, and Ted Levine, that give the action a modicum of substance. Steele imbues this brooding 85-minute melodrama about a charismatic loser with a creepy, mysterious film noir flavor.

Down and out, owing just about everybody in Sin City, Jack (George Eads) runs into an older guy, Duffy (Stephen Lang of “Avatar”), at a strip club who makes him an appetitizing proposition: "How'd you like to make some dollars, enough dollars to keep you at the adult table for a long, long time." Naturally, our misbegotten protagonist could use plenty of dough. Taking Jack home to his palatial residence, Duffy tries to persuade him to make love with his wife, May (AnnaLynne McCord of "The Transporter 2"), but the scrupulous Jack displays considerable reluctance. Apparently, Jack doesn't like being told what to do. A brief physical struggle ensues between Jack and Duffy while May watches from the pool. During the fracas, Jack shoves Duffy, and Duffy's head strikes an object and the impact kills him. Jack didn't plan to murder Duffy, and he is pretty upset at the accidental turn of events. May and he stuff Duffy's corpse into the trunk of a Maserati, and Jack wanders off the next day in the brutal heat of Vegas to sleep it off in his Volvo that he cannot get to crank up. Jack is such a woebegone guy with so many problems that it is easy to see why an actor would love to fill in the gaps and play him. Ultimately, he isn't the kind of character that an audience wants to commune with for the length of any movie.

Later, Jack encounters Duffy's scummy brother Lewis (Ted Levine of "Silence of the Lambs") who is a notorious loan shark. Lewis proudly shows Jack his prized possession—the car that May used secretly to dispose of Duffy's body—and we learn that Lewis is an obnoxious jerk, too. Interestingly, Lewis thinks that Duffy has gone away on a trip. A suspicious Jack leaves Lewis after Lewis mentions his name; Jack never told Lewis his name so he doesn't trust him. On his way out, Jack runs into May. She confides in Jack that she buried Duffy's body in the desert. Eventually, Lewis shows Jack a tablet that contains a video of Jack at Lewis' house. This is how Lewis knew Jack's name. Anyhow, Lewis knows everything about Jack, his mountain of gambling debt, and his estranged wife and daughter. Surprisingly, Lewis isn't put out that Jack had something to do with his brother's death. He wants him now to kill May, and he is prepared to use blackmail to get him to do it. May shows up at Jack's sleazy motel, and Jack assures her that he will take care of Lewis. We learn that Duffy was a terrible husband who basically kept May in a metaphorical cage and watched her constantly when he wasn't out drinking and whoring. Jack arranges a visit with Paulie (Steven Seagal of "Exit Wounds") through another disreputable man that he owes money, Carl (Vinnie Jones of "Snatch"), and Paulie agrees to help him. He hands Jack a revolver that fires backwards and tells him to give it to Lewis. Jack and Lewis tangle in a gritty fistfight while treacherous May observes the brawl. May gets the drop on Jack, and she tries to kill him. Naturally, the revovler backfires and blows her away. Afterward, Paulie kills Lewis, and they warn Jack to clear out of town.

Gutshot Straight" occurs primarily in Las Vegas casinos and at an exotic house with a swimming pool and flaming torches. As mesmerizing as the action is, nothing really happens in this pedestrian 85-minute melodrama stocked with despicable characters. Jack finds himself in trouble for a murder that he didn't mean to commit, and he flees to his friends that he owes money and gets them to polish off the villain. The action comes full circle. Although it contains polished production values, "Gutshot Straight" essentially qualifies as a potboiler. Stephen Lang and Ted Levine spend more time on screen than either Steven Seagal or Vinnie Jones. Seagal fans won't like it that the paunchy Seagal has what amounts to a cameo. The DVD commentary is interesting and contains insights into the production. This is a one-time watch it only movie.