“Creed” approaches a 40-year-old franchise that’s gone the distance — Sylvester Stallone‘s saga of Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa — from an admirably different perspective: that of Rocky’s late rival/friend Apollo Creed’s son Adonis (Michael B. Jordan), who has his own boxing dreams and knows just the mumbling Philly warhorse to help him achieve them.
A Balboa-Creed reunion of sorts, after Apollo’s mid-match demise three movies ago in 1985’s “Rocky IV,” the film also reteams Jordan with his “Fruitvale Station” writer-director, Ryan Coogler.
