Film Preview: Creed (2015)

Page Revisions:

(August 9, 2015) Original
(September 20, 2015) New Trailer (#2)
(November 22, 2015) New Posters (#1-#6) / Added Image Gallery

Release Date:

November 25, 2015

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Creed, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed.”

Poster Rating: C / C / C+ / C+ / C- (2)

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Review: (#1) Getting instructions from the “finest,” gives the design a connection to its original and the franchise, but will it be sufficient to bring fans to the theater? Perhaps. Perhaps not. (#2) This one is a bit more stylized than the first design, but that doesn’t make it better or worse. (#3) I like the starkness of the design, but it removes the connection to the franchise that might be needed to get older fans to the theater. (#4) Like design #3, it’s a stark, compelling design, but with no cohesive connection. (#5 & #6) These character posters aren’t that fascinating, but paired with each other, they could draw the target demographics to the theater, even without finesse.

Trailer Rating: B- / B

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Review: (#1) Fairly standard boxing drama design with an imperiled athlete finding a rugged mentor to help him train to meet some lofty expectation. That it’s Rocky Balboa teaching the son of his former competitor and friend Apollo Creed only ties it into a franchise, it doesn’t make it feel that much different, especially that closing scene with Michael B. Jordan facing off with himself in the mirror.

(#2) With a little more of the triumph over diversity narrative that made the original Rocky a hit, this trailer does a fine job convincing audiences that they need to see the film, but only if they are fans of boxing dramas, sports dramas or the Rocky franchise.

Oscar Prospects:

The original Rocky won Best Picture. The subsequent sequels were less than impressive at the Oscars. Even the reboot was quickly dismissed. This, however, is something of a spin-off-type sequel, which means it look at things from a different perspective. That it has some faint similarities to Oscar winner Million Dollar Baby could be a positive sign, especially for Michael B. Jordan who’s been doing very promising work lately (Fantastic Four excluded).