Review: Creed (2015)

* * * 1/2
Director: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone

Two men stand in front of a mirror. The older one, the mentor, points to the younger one's reflection and tells him that that's the toughest opponent he'll ever have to face. Is this moment a cliche? Yes, absolutely; variations on this moment have factored into countless stories, especially sports stories. Does it work regardless? Yes. Like so many cliches that have appeared throughout the course of the Rocky series, this one is embraced in such a sincere fashion and woven so lovingly into the fabric of the narrative that it becomes a positive instead of a negative. Seven films in, the Rocky formula is by now well-worn (truth told, the formula was already well-worn with the first one), but with Creed - an entry which takes the story in the only direction it has left to go: back to the start - it doesn't feel tired. Thanks to a new star in Michael B. Jordan and a new energy brought by director/co-writer Ryan Coogler, Creed is a vibrant movie that more than justifies the continuation of a series that is now just shy of 40 years old.

Review: Fruitvale Station (2013)

* * * *
Director: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer

I would imagine that it would be difficult not to feel intensely about the events depicted in Fruitvale Station, both because it is based on a true story and because of more recent events which have made headlines, sparked debate, and incited a great deal of anger. Fruitvale Station does not exist in a vacuum, it exists as part of a greater racial and socioeconomic narrative about power and its abuses, and it can be hard to consider the film on its own terms, divorced from that context. It's an "issue movie" but it is also an effective character drama. In certain respects this "day in the life" film is flawed, but as an emotional experience it is near perfect.