"Creed" Review

OP-ROB RATING: ALL-STAR

“Creed” is the newest installment of the “Rocky” series, which it reflects in many ways. However, this time around Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) is old and in very poor health. He doesn’t throw a single punch. If the title of the film isn’t clear enough, the main focus is on Adonis “Donny” Johnson/Creed (Michael B. Jordan), the illegitimate son of the great Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). For those that haven’t seen the films, Apollo was one of Rocky’s greatest rivals and friends who died in the ring before his son was born. In the opening scenes we are introduced to the rowdy, troubled little boy named Adonis who is spending his time in a youth penitentiary when Mary Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad), Apollo’s widow, shows up to take in the young boy as her own. Donny then grows up in the Creed’s L.A. mansion and despite an education and a great job, opts to pursue a career in the ring as a boxer.

In most ways, “Creed” is similar to any other “Rocky” movie. The main hero is introduced with challenges and obstacles that he must overcome. There is a love interest fulfilled by a musician named Bianca (Tessa Thompson).  There are training montages and a culmination scene in the same spirit as the very first “Rocky”. Ultimately Donny ends up in the ring with a formidable fighter named “Pretty Ricky” Conlan (Tony Bellew) and must face everything he has learned and struggled to achieve. While all of these events may seem cliché and boring, “Creed” finds ways to become unique and take on a name of its own.

A defining hurdle that Donny must jump is his own privilege. Unlike most fighters, he has come from considerable wealth and opportunity. When he first shows up to a gym in Philadelphia, the trainer belittles him by giving him the nickname “Hollywood”. Even after proving his toughness with a solid victory against a hardened Philadelphia fighter, Donny still faces the challenge of earning the name Creed. Another key plotline is that of the old hero, Rocky Balboa. Rocky has finally hung up the gloves and is even reluctant to enter a boxing gym before Donny is able to convince him to become a trainer. Seeing the Italian Stallion so beaten down is quite sobering, but it confronts an actuality that the previous “Rocky” film, “Rocky Balboa” vehemently denied.

“Creed” excels under the direction of Ryan Coogler, who has worked with Michael B. Jordan before on the film "Fruitvale Station". Some of the most exhilarating shots in the film come in the big fight with Conlan. Instead of randomly circling the fighters, Coogler sets the camera over the shoulder of the man with the upper hand in the fight.  It goes from Conlan to Donny and back again throughout much of the boxing match. In "Creed" the ring feels more brutal than in previous "Rocky" films, with shots of blood splashing the mat and deep gashes being sealed up. The streets of Philadelphia also come to life in a way that showcases the reality of the city. There are scenes with dirt biker gang’s in the road; in another scene Bianca takes Donny to a local cheesesteak dive. Without romanticizing anything Coogler manages to bring authenticity to the story. Knowing the grit of the streets and the brutality of the ring is crucial for Donny to become a Creed. It is also necessary to the viewer in order to be fully immersed in the story.

The weaker points of "Creed" are in the storylines involving his mother and his girlfriend. Rashad gets maybe ten lines as Mary Anne Creed, and she essentially disappears after the first scene only to return when watching the big fight from her home in L.A. Bianca also feels dispensable to the story. Even though her character is intriguing, she doesn't add to Donny's character like Adrian (Talia Shire) did for Rocky in the first film. She basically serves as the token love interest and little else. While both of these roles were convenient for the story, their lack of purpose takes away from the final product.

Despite a relatively long run time of 133 minutes “Creed” keeps an impressive pace. The film builds steady momentum and the final fight is truly thrilling. In an ending scene that is both original and sentimental, “Creed” finishes on very strong footing in lieu of a few missteps here and there along the way. While "Creed" is not necessarily anything new, it manages to shake up an age-old story enough to bring new sparks to the narrative. With a powerful soundtrack and convincing performances from both Jordan and Stallone, "Creed" is a winner, even if by split decision.

"Spotlight" Review

OP-ROB RATING: LEGEND

“Spotlight” is a film directed by Thomas McCarthy about The Boston Globe’s investigation of sex abuse within the Roman Catholic Church in and around Boston. Within the Globe, the particular investigative team is called “Spotlight” and is led by Walter “Robby” Robinson (Michael Keaton). Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James), and Ben Bradlee (John Slattery) make up the rest of the investigative team. In the opening scenes these characters roam about the busy office of the Globe working on finding a new topic that deserves Spotlight’s attention. Their choice is essentially made for them when the new editor of the Globe, Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber), pushes Robby to investigate the Catholic Church and the possibility of a sex abuse scandal involving more than a few rogue priests. As a new editor, a Jew, and a non-Bostonian, Baron is not the most popular man in the office at the beginning of the film. Despite a fair amount of pushback, Robby and his team reluctantly begin work. Within the first couple weeks of investigation, the Spotlight team discovers that they have stumbled upon something far bigger than expected. As each reporter discovers more bad priests, more victims, more cover-ups, and more excuses, the story might risk losing focus. However, in “Spotlight” McCarthy sticks to the actual reporters, as each is affected by the investigation in different and profound ways.

“Spotlight” deals with such horrific issues that it is often hard to watch. In one scene where Sacha interviews a survivor, she explains that he must give more detail than simply saying, "molested". For the sake of her story she needs to know exactly what happened. Many of the interviews with victims are disturbing and gut-wrenching. As the film reveals, many of the individuals who are molested by priests go on to lead abject adult lives filled with emotion instability, drug addiction and sometimes suicide. The scenes with survivors revealing sickening details are tough to sit through, but even tougher are the scenes where the bigger picture is revealed. The revelation that it is not just “a few bad apples” in the priesthood is the hardest to stomach. A watershed moment in the film comes when an expert reveals to the Spotlight team that extensive research indicates that 6% of priests are involved in pedophilic activity during their careers. After hearing this statistic the team simply sits in shock; so does the audience.

The most impressive aspect of “Spotlight” is the simplicity of the film. Most scenes are presented an unloaded frame, with people simply speaking to one another. Characters talk to each other and McCarthy allows them to act instead of constantly cutting to close-ups or ramping up a shot. While all of the performances are excellent, the very best are delivered by Stanley Tucci as Mitchell Garabedian and Mark Ruffalo as Michael Rizendes. Garabedian is an explosive lawyer for those affected by pedophile priests. He is a man who knows just how horrible the situation is and how evil the are actions to cover it up. Rizendes is one of the reporters on the story, and the investigation pulls at him the most visibly. As a lapsed Catholic, Rizendes explains in one scene how he thought that he would always return to the faith. Even though he was no longer a practicing Catholic, the fact that it was still there for him was important, and what Spotlight has discovered has destroyed any possibility of return to the church. As Rizendes finishes his thought, he explains to Sacha that it’s a “shitty feeling”.

  I had seen the Alex Gibney documentary “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God” before seeing “Spotlight”, so I was pretty familiar with this widespread problem. Gibney’s documentary is quite good, but it gets so wound up in the overall spectacle of the scandal that it feels somewhat detached. “Spotlight”, however, is anything but distant. The dialogue is intuitive and stimulating. Each progression of the story is pointed and concise. While the issue of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is a major theme of the film, “Spotlight” is focused on the courageous men and women who brought it to light. While it is certainly not a film that I would watch for enjoyment, “Spotlight” is a superb work of film, and vitally important as a topic of contemporary society.

"Spectre" Review

OP-ROB RATING: BUST

When Daniel Craig was first cast for the role of James Bond, a great many people swore he was too short, too coarse, and too blonde. Ian Fleming probably rolled over in his grave when the decision came out. However, with "Casino Royale", Craig not only proved he deserved to be 007, but also added an unprecedented level of depth to the storied character. With uneven storytelling, "Quantum of Solace" took a step back from the excellence of "Casino Royale", but Blonde Bond came surging back to life under the direction of Sam Mendes with “Skyfall” in 2012. Now, in what may be his last outing, Daniel Craig is back in the new film “Spectre” with Mendes again directing.

Picking up from "Skyfall", Bond is still trying to stop a secretive web of enemies, meanwhile trying solve mysteries from his past. Starting off in Mexico City and bouncing from there to London, Rome, Austria, Tunisia and back to London, Bond picks up clues and ultimately comes face to face with his most powerful opponent yet. This villain is his estranged step brother, Ernst Blofeld played by Christoph Waltz. "Spectre" is a quite beautiful and stylish affair. The locations shot in the film are striking, with the snow covered Austrian mountains, the streets of Rome and London, and the sandy desert in Tunisia. Even the polluted streets of Mexico City look terrific. Bond and his main female companion in the film, Dr. Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) can be observed wearing fine designer clothing looking like they just stepped out of a photo shoot with Vanity Fair.

“Spectre” is visually tantalizing, however the story that unfolds is far less exciting than the visuals and the action scenes.  Unlike its predecessor, "Spectre" opts for the typical Bond formula. There are several sexual encounters, a brutish henchman, an evil lair, and a cerebral super villain. Sam Mendes includes some nice throwbacks to the old Bond films, but the story lacks any real substance. The most confusing aspect of "Spectre" is the main love interest, Dr. Madeleine Swann. Bond and Swann meet briefly and inexplicably fall in love after a few short scenes, but the relationship is never developed/explained. Another shabby piece of "Spectre" occurs when Bond is subjected to torture by tiny needles that literally do nothing. In the very same scene the “super smart” Blofeld makes the boneheaded mistake of not confiscating Bond's watch which any old bloke knows can just as easily blow up as tell the time. If that’s not baffling enough, Bond manages to shoot down a helicopter with one nicely placed bullet from his Walther PPK pistol. These things cross the line and make “Spectre” feel more like a satire about spy films rather than a serious Bond film.

The funniest and most memorable scene in the movie happens when Bond confronts a mouse that scurries into his hotel room in Tunisia. Sitting, slouched in a chair drinking a Heineken, Bond points his pistol at the rodent and asks, "Who sent you? Who are you working for?" Besides the humor, this is one of the few scenes where Bond becomes human. He's just a guy drinking beer and having a little fun. It's this more relatable side of Bond that made Craig a game changer. When the hero has “Everyman” qualities it makes his story more believable and realistic to the viewer. This same idea can be seen in "The Dark Knight" when the mighty Batman strains in his office chair trying to stitch his own shoulder up. Unfortunately, "Spectre" misses the opportunity to reveal more of the character of James Bond, and opts for cheap thrills and a rickety storyline resulting in one of the biggest disappointments this movie season.