This spin-off boxing series finally dances on its own two feet, having outgrown its Rocky Balboa roots.
Nice to see.
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| The calm before the impending storm: Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) enjoys some quality time with his wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and their daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent) |
Star Michael B. Jordan also makes his directorial debut here. While he deserves credit for mounting a satisfying sports drama, he also has himself frequently framed in tight close-up by cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau (a frequent vanity misstep by actors-turned-first-time-directors).
And although this series always has threatened to drown in soggy melodrama, this newest entry again skates close to the edge, but (happily) doesn’t descend into slushy sentimentality.
The core plot stands on its own, but viewers unfamiliar with the two earlier films may be puzzled by some of the family dynamics, notably the (apparently) strained relationship between Adonis Creed (Jordan) and his beloved mother, Mary-Anne (Phylicia Rashad).
The film opens on a flashback that expands on our hero’s origin. It’s 2002, and 15-year-old Adonis (Thaddeus J. Mixson) sneaks out of his house late on evening, in order to watch his slightly older best friend, Damian Anderson (Spence Moore II), win a key boxing match. The two bonded during the two years they lived in a juvenile center, when Damian schooled Adonis in the “sweet science.”
Following Damian’s victory, while stopping for snacks at a convenience store, — a suddenly enraged Adonis starts beating on an older guy who exits the place. (And we think, what the heck?)
Cue two sudden cuts: the first showcasing the adult Adonis winning the bout that makes him World Heavyweight Champion, and then — just as quickly — several years later, to the present day. Adonis has retired and now runs the Delphi Boxing Academy with his former cornerman, Tony “Little Duke” Burton (Wood Harris). Current champ Felix Chavez (Jose Benavidez) is in residence, as Delphi’s star boxer.
Adonis shares his lavish Bel Air home with loving wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson), whose previous life as a pop performer has blossomed into an equally successful career as a music producer. They dote on young daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent, absolutely adorable), whose deafness hasn’t harmed her spirit.
Jordan and Davis-Kent share marvelous chemistry, and this story’s father/daughter sequences are totally charming. Amara worships her father, and wants to learn more about boxing … to Bianca’s dismay. Particularly since the little girl tends to settle school disagreements with a punch.
(Davis-Kent actually is deaf, which adds a solid touch of authenticy to her performance.)
The carefully cultivated serenity of Adonis’ life goes awry with the unexpected return of Damian (now Jonathan Majors), fresh from an 18-year prison stretch. The reunion is awkward, the relationship clearly strained.
Damian confesses a desire to make up for lost time, and resume his potential championship track. Adonis — although believing his long-ago friend is chasing an impossible dream — nonetheless encourages Damian to train at Delphi.
And we wonder: What’s actually going down?
This second mystery is enhanced by Majors’ quietly brooding performance. On the surface, Damian seems amiable, chastened, repentant. But his congenial smile feels superficial, his gradual insinuation into Adonis and Bianca’s life somehow calculated. Majors makes the man subtly shrewd, perhaps even manipulative.
As this dynamic plays out during the first two acts, we can be sure it’ll lead to the anticipated climax (hardly a spoiler, since it’s telegraphed by this film’s poster and complementary publicity). Adonis will be dragged out of retirement in order to face his much larger, stronger former friend in the ring.
To everybody’s credit — writers and actors — this makes perfect sense. (That said, Bianca’s calm acceptance is ludicrous.)
Adonis endures several emotional upheavals, each of which Jordan handles persuasively. It soon becomes clear that Adonis’ comfortable life is something of a façade, since it masks a childhood trauma that he has tried to ignore. Jordan is deftly nuanced, as this realization hits: sliding through anger, avoidance, realization and — ultimately — calm acceptance.
Bianca is perhaps too perfect, patient and understanding, but — to Thompson’s credit — she puts genuine heart and soul into her confrontational exchanges with Jordan.
Harris is rock-solid as Burton, better able to coldly access the situation without being blinded by Adonis’ guilt-ridden view of things. Rashad gets some long-awaited quality time, as Mary-Anne finally helps her son confront his past.
Morgenthau and stunt coordinator Clayton Barber cleverly depict the split-second observational “science” of boxing during the film’s two key bouts, as the fighters detect and act upon each other’s weaknesses.
But the slide into a “twilight zone” of suspended time, during the climactic match, doesn’t work as well as Jordan intended. It’s simply odd.
That’s small stuff, and doesn’t detract from this film’s crowd-pleasing ingredients. The formula may be predictable — a mood enhanced by composer Joseph Shirley’s orchestral underscore, which occasionally evokes memories of Bill Conti’s inspirational music for 1976’s Rocky — but that didn’t stop Tuesday evening’s full-house Sacramento preview audience from erupting in cheers, as the end credits rolled.
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