2020-2029, Film Review

Creed III (2023)

Posted on March 3, 2023March 3, 2023 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

© MGM, United Artists Releasing and Warner Bros. Pictures

Creed III – Film Review

Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Mila Davis-Kent, Wood Harris, Florian Munteanu, Phylicia Rashad

Director: Michael B. Jordan

Synopsis: After a successful boxing career, Adonis Creed (Jordan) faces a new challenge when a former childhood friend and boxing prodigy (Majors) resurfaces…

Review: To follow in the footsteps of a cinematic icon like Rocky Balboa is far from an easy feat. Yet, with its superb blend of nostalgia, pulsating fight scenes and an unwavering determination for its lead character to honour the legacy of Apollo Creed, as well as forging his own, this is precisely what the spin-off to the Rocky franchise accomplished when its first film fought its way into cinemas to critical acclaim. With its sequel, it continued along this path by adding some deeply personal stakes for both its lead character and his coach. It might have seemed unthinkable the third film would not feature the iconic character of Rocky in any capacity. Yet even without the involvement of Sly Stallone, it has proved it has plenty of fight left in the tank.

Adonis Creed has spent years enjoying a successful boxing career. However, he has now reached a point where he has chosen to retire as a professional fighter and transfer to the role of a coach/promoter and the owner of a gym training the next generation of fighters. On top of this, Adonis also has family responsibilities parenting his daughter Amara (Davis-Kent) with his wife Bianca (Thompson). However, when a former childhood friend Damian Anderson (Majors) comes back into Adonis’s life after spending 18 years in prison, he wants his chance to become a professional fighter and make up for the time he lost while serving his sentence. Initially offering his former friend a chance to rehabilitate and train, Adonis is forced to confront his past relationship with Damian when it becomes clear Damian’s aspirations threaten to challenge the legacy Adonis worked so hard to build.

The script by Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin, working from a story co-written with Ryan Coogler, continues to honour the theme beating at the heart of these films: legacy. The boxing aspect unquestionably plays a part in the films, but the emphasis is first and foremost on these characters and their relationships with those closest to them and the legacies they strive to build. For Adonis, he may have enjoyed a phenomenal career as a pro boxer, but the question about legacy becomes even more prescient since Adonis has hung up his gloves. With a daughter to now take care of, given the fierceness and brutality of the sport, the film explores what kind of effect will his boxing career have on her as she grows up and handles the challenges of life. A dilemma which causes tension between Adonis and Bianca. However, there are also some extremely heart-warming moments of the trio as a family, with Bianca also getting much more screen time as she is also having to balance her career and her parental responsibilities.

Yet, despite those heartwarming moments, the crunch of the film’s conflict lies in the relationship between Adonis and Damian. Through a flashback sequence, the relationship between the young Adonis and Damian is established and how events in the past have shaped the men they have become. Fast forward to the present day, and it is fair to say the relationship is complicated. There is initially respect between the two men, but it doesn’t take long for this respect to erode as Damian’s aspirations put him and Adonis on a direct collision course, which leads to an enthralling showdown. He’s certainly the man of the moment given his status as the MCU’s next big bad, and Jonathan Majors delivers a sensational performance as Damian effortlessly combing the intense physicality of the fight scenes with the more restrained emotional moments between these two friends-turned-rivals.

Taking the directorial gloves from Coogler and Steven Caple Jr in his directorial debut, Jordan follows in the footsteps of his predecessors as he puts his own stamp on the film’s fight scenes, proving his talent both in front of and behind the camera. Is there anything this man cannot do? He has made no secret of his love of anime and those influences come through in the fight scenes with intense close-ups of the fighters’ facial expressions, and slow motion before a significant blow is about to be landed. It is an effective combination and adds to the intense physicality of the fight scenes, which particularly comes through when viewed on the big screen. The Creed franchise had a lot to live up to, but through three excellent films which rarely put a foot wrong, it has honoured the legacy of the icon of Rocky Balboa and has given its star to launch himself as one of Hollywood’s newest and most exciting young directors.

Continuing to honour its central themes of family and defining your legacy, while getting another superb performance out of man-of-the-moment Jonathan Majors, ensures this threequel earns delivers the knockout blow and earns its title as a worthy successor to one of the greatest sports film franchises of all time.

2020-2029, Film Review

Soul (2020)

Posted on December 29, 2020December 31, 2020 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

**Image is property of Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios**

Soul – Film Review

Cast: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Tina Fey, Questlove, Phylicia Rashad, Daveed Diggs, Angela Bassett, Graham Norton

Directors: Pete Docter and Kemp Powers

Synopsis: When his soul is separated from his body after an accident, a passionate about jazz musician finds himself in a mysterious realm called the Great Before, a place where new souls get their personality traits before heading to Earth.

Review: As each and everyone one of us goes through life, we will have undoubtedly asked those many existential questions. Questions that we can spend a considerable portion of our lives striving to find the answers to. For instance, what is the meaning of life? Or what is the the thing that we feel like we were put on this Earth to do? The films from animation giants Pixar, especially those from Pete Docter, have attempted to pose some answers to those existential questions. These questions have been posed to a whole range of beings, from monsters, to humans, and even to emotions themselves. Yet with his fourth film with the animation powerhouse, this could well be the most profound look at life, and existence that studio has produced to date.

Joe Gardner (Foxx) is a passionate jazz musician, who earns his living as a middle school band teacher. However, he dreams of being a full time jazz musician, but the opportunities to make that possible are becoming increasingly rare. However, when the chance to play for a prestigious jazz band fronted by Dorothea Williams (Bassett) opens up, Joe is given a shot and is determined to land the permanent gig. But before he has the chance to perform, and to do what he loves the most, an accident separates Joe’s soul from his body. His soul lands onto the path to the Great Beyond, a destination for souls to go once they have lived their lives on Earth. Believing he still has more to give, Joe escapes and instead finds himself in The Great Before, a place where new souls go before heading to Earth.

It’s here in The Great Before that he gets paired up with Soul #22 (Fey), a fledgling soul who is completely disinterested about leaving the Great Before to have a life on Earth. Joe must do all he can to help #22 realise that a life on Earth is worth living, whilst trying to return to his own body before it is too late. The screenplay, by co-directors Docter, Powers and Mike Jones is perhaps the most contemplative screenplay that the studio has brought to fruition. While they’ve never been afraid to attempt to answer those burning questions that many of us have about our existence, they take it a step further with some deep probing about the lives we lead, what our passions are, and is this thing that we call life really worth pursuing in the first place?

Marking the first time that a Black character has been the lead in a Pixar film, Foxx’s voice work is excellent. He gives Joe Gardner a distinct personality and a desire to achieve his dream that anyone watching, no matter what their hopes and aspirations are, can easily connect with. Alongside him, Tina Fey lends her brilliant comedic talents to tremendous effect as the soul that couldn’t be less interested in what it means to have a life on this world. They are complete polar opposites, which gives the dynamic that they share ample opportunities for some excellent comedic moments. However, for all the strength of the voice work, and the significant step forward for representation on screen, the majority of the supporting characters don’t have a great deal of screen time. Furthermore, there’s one aspect of the film that could be seen as problematic and a hindrance to the film’s attempts to make positive, forward strides in terms of representation.

With Pixar, it is practically a sure bet that the animation is going to be outstanding. While this is once again the case, the work done for this film is something truly exceptional, and some of the best work that the studio has produced. Not only is the vibrancy of New York City and the atmosphere (at least pre-pandemic) brought to life in such rich and incredible detail. Furthermore, the imagination and the vivid colours of the places like The Great Before are also absolutely stunning, and they are perfectly complemented by ethereal score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. While taking on such fundamental aspects of life, there’s only so much that can be tackled over the course of one feature length film. Yet, as they have proved through their previous films, Pixar have delivered another bold and profound piece of storytelling.

It might lack the emotional punch of some of the studio’s previous work, but with gorgeous animation and a bold and contemplative look at the lives we lead, Soul is another splendid addition to Pixar’s filmography.

2010-2019, Film Review

Creed II (2018)

Posted on December 8, 2018December 10, 2018 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

**Image is property of MGM and Warner Bros**

Creed II – Film Review

Cast: Michael B Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris, Phylicia Rashad, Dolph Lundgren, Florian Munteanu

Director: Steven Caple Jr

Synopsis: With the World Heavyweight Championship title now under his belt, Adonis Creed faces a new threat to his title, in the form of Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan, the man who killed his father Apollo…

Review: Every so often, a film comes almost completely out of nowhere, with little fanfare and just absolutely blows audiences away. An example of this would be 2015’s Creed, the seventh entry in the Rocky franchise. It reinvigorated a series that hadn’t had an entry for almost a decade. As such many might have assumed that it had fought its last fight and was out for the count, this is until one Ryan Coogler came along, and a new champion of the franchise was born.

That champion is Adonis Creed, who has in the wake of his bout with Ricky Conlan, has gone on to enjoy a tremendous run of success that leads him to the World Heavyweight Championship title. However trouble is brewing as Viktor Drago the son of Ivan Drago, is emerging as a very credible threat to his newly won title. Complications further arise when after Adonis proposes to Bianca (Thompson), she becomes pregnant with their first child, leaving Adonis with a dilemma as to whether he should take this challenge on, given what happened the last time a Creed faced off against a Drago. To say there’s history and bad blood between the Creeds and the Dragos would be putting it mildly.

One significant factor that made the first film such the knockout success it was, was the trio of terrific performances from its three leads and the chemistry that they had with each other. Michael B Jordan is once again terrific in the lead role, with excellent support from the great Sly Stallone once more. Likewise for Tessa Thompson, although she is an integral figure in Adonis’s life, as they are both about to go on the most personal of journeys together. There is considerably less development on her own life and career when compared to the first film. Though this is understandable considering the challenge Creed is facing from Viktor Drago, who is desperate to prove himself to his father, and as a fighter. There is an attempt to develop his character, but it falls short of making him a truly compelling character. He is built like a tank though, and that doesn’t bode well for Adonis.

Due to his involvement with some rather obscure Marvel property called Black Panther, Coogler stepped down from directing duties. Now merely on board as executive producer, with those gloves were passed to Steven Caple Jr. Though not as visually as impressive as the work that was accomplished with the first film (there’s no masterful one take fight scene), Caple fills his shoes admirably well, as the fight scenes are once again very raw and rough in their execution. The camerawork really makes you feel those punches as they fly in, though some more footage of the fights would have been most welcome as some fights are montage-d through rather quickly.

This being the eight film in this franchise, it does follow similar paths that previous films in the franchise have, which may lead to criticism from some quarters. However, if you walk into a Rocky/Creed film, or indeed almost any boxing film, the chances of seeing a good training montage, some well executed fight scenes, mixed in with some deeply moving and personal family drama, are quite high. What matters is if the film is done with care and continues the story in a compelling manner that was brought to life so effectively with Creed, which this film does like a champ.