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New Escapist Column! On How “Creed III” Brings Anime to Hollywood…

Posted on March 6, 2023 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release and success of Creed III, it seemed like a good opportunity to look at what makes the film stand apart from what came before.

Actor and director Michael B. Jordan has been quite frank about the influence of anime on his approach to Creed III, and that influence shines through. However, it’s also part of a larger trend in modern Hollywood. The industry spent decades trying to directly adapt anime properties for American audiences, with minimal success. However, recent years have seen the emergence of a generation of artists who grew up with the form as a standard part of their media diet, and it’s bleeding through into works like NOPE, The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. It’s a fascinating trend.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: adaptation, anime, creed, creed 3, creed iii, hollywood, in the frame, influence, michael b. jordan, rocky, Rocky Balboa, ryan coogler, the escapist, translation | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Creed” as the Perfect Legacy Sequel…

Posted on November 13, 2020 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. Because Creed is five years old this month, it seemed like an appropriate time to look back at one of the defining legacy sequels.

Creed arrived at a point in time when these sorts of movies were becoming a lot more common; Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens would premiere a month later. However, there is a lot that later legacy sequels could learn from Creed and how it approaches the idea of passing the torch from one generation to the next. Creed is a love letter to the Rocky franchise, but never loses track of its own identity, accomplishing the rarest of balances.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: creed, escapist, franchise properties, franchises, in the frame, legacy sequels, rocky, the escapist | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Creed II

Posted on November 30, 2018 by Darren

Creed II is a much better sequel than Rocky IV deserves.

At the heart of Creed II is the grudge match that fans of the franchise had been anticipating since the core concept of this “legacy-quel” series was first suggested. Adonis Creed in the ring against Viktor Drago. The son of Apollo Creed squaring off against the son of Ivan Drago, a generational rematch of the bout that cost Apollo Creed his life in Rocky IV. Adonis Creed is haunted by the name that he inherited from a father that he never met, and so it seems only reasonable that his film series would circle back around to allowing him closure on this.

A Rocky Road Less Travelled.

There is an irony in all of this. One of the central themes of Creed was the challenge of this spin-off movie franchise existing in the shadow of the original beloved Rocky series. Co-writer and director Ryan Coogler rose to that challenge, and created one of the great franchise success stories of the twenty-first century. As a result, it occasionally feels like Creed II is not so much fighting to escape the shadow of Rocky IV as much as it is wrestling with the weight of Creed.

Creed II is a solid and sturdy sequel to Creed, although not a superior one. It isn’t necessarily the sequel that Creed deserves.

To the Viktor, the spoils…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Cold War, creed, creed 2, creed ii, film, michael b. jordan, Movie, non-review review, r eview, reocky balboa, rocky, Russia, sylvester stallone | Leave a comment »

Win! Tickets to the Jameson Cult Film Club screening of the undefeatable classic ROCKY!

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Darren

For two nights only, the Jameson Cult Film Club will have the privilege of witnessing the greatest exhibition of guts and stamina in the history of the ring. Rocky will bound onto the screen for two bouts of the Jameson Cult Film Club on Wednesday July 6th and Thursday July 7th at a surprise venue in Dublin.

Tickets are free from JamesonCultFilmClub.ie, simply register your details for the chance to win, but the m0vie blog have a pair of tickets up for grabs for you to the screening on July 7th in Dublin.

Jameson Cult Film Club presents ROCKY

The secret location has been overhauled to feature classic scenes from the movie, including Rocky’s well- trodden training ground and the city’s famous ‘Rocky Steps’. While live actors bust a gut with one armed press ups and pack a punch on meat carcasses in perfect timing to Rocky’s on screen action, the club features unexpected theatrics along with a full size boxing ring for the cult classic’s final clinch.

So grab the Paulie to your Rocky and answer the question below for your chance to win a pair of tickets to the Jameson Cult Film Club in Dublin on Thursday 7th July, the ultimate film experience of the summer.

All entrants must be over 18 – ID must be presented if requested.

Enjoy Jameson Sensibly. Visit Drinkaware.ie

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: jameson cult film club, Movies, rocky | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Creed

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Darren

Creed feels like something of an unlikely companion piece to Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Increasingly, it seems that nostalgia is becoming a dominant force in popular culture. There has always been a market for nostalgia, but the past few years have seen an explosion in the management and exploitation of recognisable properties. It seems like almost everything is being fashioned into a franchise. In the seventies or eighties, it would have been unthinkable to imagine a shared universe built around Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky. Now, the surprise is not so much that the shared universe exists, but that it is good. Creed is a great boxing film.

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If nostalgia is to become a governing force going forward, it is worth reflecting on approaches that work and those that do not. For every franchise that works, there is another that flounders. For every Mad Max: Fury Road, there is a Terminator: Genisys waiting in the wings. The key is to understand this pull of the past and to engage with it; to treat nostalgia as more than just a cynical market force, but to weave a story around it. JJ Abrams has proven quite adept with this, given the success of The Force Awakens at understanding the appeal of Star Wars.

Creed is every bit as successful, engaging with its own legacy and the weight of its nostalgia in a manner that suggests that writer and director Ryan Coogler understands not only what makes Rocky work as a piece of film, but also the gravity that exerts.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: creed, film, michael b. jordan, Movie, non-review review, review, rocky, ryan coogler | 6 Comments »