BEFORE: Well, this was supposed to be the slot for watching the movie "The Circle", available on iTunes, with Patton Oswalt carrying over, and Tom Hanks serving as the link to "Toy Story 4" tomorrow. But as I was scrolling through my cast lists (conveniently color-coded so I can see all of the links) a week or two ago, I realized that this film could ALSO serve as a link between "Sorry to Bother You" and "Toy Story 4". I thought about it, and decided that even though "The Circle" might fit thematically (an evil corporation is up to no good) it could be much easier to link to that other film next year, it's got more actors that pop up again and again - but it's harder to link to "Creed II", or perhaps it's harder to link AWAY from, so I feel like maybe I should clear it from the books sooner, that could help me in the long run.
Plus, "Creed II" is airing on premium cable NOW, so I can watch it at no extra cost - but "The Circle" is only available on iTunes at an extra cost, $4.99 and currently not on Netflix or Hulu - it's on Amazon Prime, but not free with Prime subscription, so it's a few bucks to watch it, no matter how. But if I wait a few months, program this for next year sometime, there's a good chance that it may pop up on one of those services, or premium cable, and I can save - a couple bucks here, a couple bucks there, it starts to add up to real money at some point. Jeez, after two years you'd think the price would come down - or it would find a home on some streaming service that doesn't charge by the film.
If I didn't watch "Creed II" here, it does link to a couple other films, like "Dumbo" and "Men in Black: International", but I'm not ready to watch either of those, they're also only on iTunes, but I may get to see them for free after the new wave of Academy screeners comes in January.
So new plan, Tessa Thompson carries over from "Sorry to Bother You", and the switch doesn't affect my count for the year.
FOLLOW-UP TO: "Creed" (Movie #2,508)
THE PLOT: Under the tutelage of Rocky Balboa, newly-crowned heavyweight champion Adonis Creed faces off against Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago.
AFTER: If you haven't been watching the calendar closely, the dates during the whole last week have been palindromic - today is 9/19/19, which reads the same either way, assuming you leave off the initial "0" in the number of the month. I wish I could have devised a week that somehow began as it started - or maybe this week, like me, if you couldn't tell which end was up or whether you were coming or going, perhaps this was why. But here's a movie that feels sort of palindromic, in a way, because it reflects back to the film "Rocky IV" and brings back many of that film's elements, though in a different way, like the way that the end of a palindrome reflects the beginning, with different words, or the same letters in reverse order.
If you don't remember "Rocky IV", Apollo Creed fought Ivan Drago, a bigger, tougher, more Soviet opponent, who liked to ominously declare "I must break you..." in a thick Russian accent right before each match. And that fight cost Apollo everything, and prompted Rocky to train in Russia, old-school style, to take down Drago in the next fight. So there were a number of ways that this film could revisit the past while also moving the story forward, all of which would end up feeling like a proper sequel to both "Creed" and "Rocky IV", and that everything old could seem new again.
So Ivan Drago raised a son who is now a boxer - hey, a lot can happen when you don't check in on a family in 33 years - but he was apparently a single parent, and Ludmilla Drago left the family fairly soon after giving birth, it seems, because of the shame that came with losing the world heavyweight title to an American, even worse, an Italian-American, and even worse than THAT, it was Rocky Balboa. Look, we have no idea how things work on the Russian social scene, maybe it's all about winning, or things changed under Putin so that the strong had to shame the week, or social status is all determined by money and/or trophies. Look back on the Russian doping incidents, or the scandals associated with the last few Russian Olympic teams, and then maybe this theory isn't so far-off.
Boxing's a weird sort of sport, I must admit that I have no idea how it's structured internationally - it seems like many of the early "World Heavyweight Champions" came from the U.S., so it was the "World" championship in name only, sort of like the "World" Series or the "Miss Universe" pageant. (Do we even INVITE women from other galaxies to enter? It seems like we're stacking the deck in our solar system's favor, if you ask me.) For heavyweight boxing over the years, once in a while there would be a champion from Germany, Sweden or Italy, but for the most part, it was a bunch of Americans, because really, who's better at the old ultra-violence? A Russian champ was unheard of at the time of "Rocky IV", but then in 1999 and 2000 came Vitaly and Wladimir Klitschko from the Ukraine, so really, that film was just a bit ahead of its time. These days, it seems like a WHC can come from just about anywhere, like Nigeria, Syria or Mexico.
So naturally there has to be a setback, like that first bout between Adonis and Viktor, that's probably going to go south here - we've got two hours to fill, of course. Then a number of things could happen - there could be a re-match, assuming Adonis survives the match. Or he could meet the same fate as his father, during the first match or the second one. If Adonis suddenly isn't around any more, then maybe Rocky would have to get back in the ring and avenge him, like he did for Apollo. OK, Rocky's a bit long in the tooth now, so I don't see that happening. But maybe Rocky's own son would have to suddenly become a boxer and take down Drago - wouldn't that be something? Nah, I've seen the guy, he's not much of the boxing type. Better keep the story as it is.
Besides, Rocky's on the outs with his son, and prefers the company of his (more or less) adopted son, Adonis. Rocky keeps trying to pick up the phone all throughout this movie to call his son, but he never can quite bring himself to do that. (Probably Milo Ventimiglia wasn't available at the time of the first "Creed" movie, and even though he's still super-busy filming "This Is Us", he at least managed to spare half a day to shoot one scene here. Mostly (when the boxing isn't happening, or training is taking place) this film ends up being about trying to maintain and mend relationships - Rocky with his son, Adonis trying to maintain relationships with his mother, wife and Rocky, and then there's the Drago family. Ivan and Viktor seem like they might be chasing a reconciliation with Ludmilla, since Viktor barely even knows his mother, but is becoming champion really the BEST way to accomplish this? Maybe send a card, just a thought.
I think this is one of the better boxing movies I've seen, because my chief complaint at this point is usually that the film didn't get into the strategy of enough. Since I'm not a fan of the sport I want a boxing film to explain some of what's going on, like how one boxer can draw the other one in, or fake this way or that in order to set the other boxer up for a hit, or how a boxer can over-extend himself with a punch and leave himself vulnerable. But I don't want a film to over-explain things, either, because then I might feel like I'm being talked down to. Maybe it's a delicate balance, but I think this film walked that line very well. I was involved in every match, and I understood more than usual about what was taking place - and even if that knowledge and understanding may be fleeting, I appreciate that somebody made the effort to bring it to me.
They couldn't do another "training in Russia" montage for the big rematch, so they had to go in the other direction here, and train Creed out in the desert - so apparently the opposite of Siberia is Death Valley. But I wonder why they didn't come up with a "Rumble in the Jungle" or "Thrilla in Manila"-style nickname for the fight in Russia. Did nobody else think of "Hysteria in Siberia" or "Spar in the U.S.S.R."? OK, maybe those are terrible rhymes, but why not "The Crusha in Russia"? Come on, screenwriters, do I have to think of everything myself?
Overall NITPICK POINT, though, I don't think Michael B. Jordan looks like a heavyweight boxer. He's not that tall, so to qualify for the weight class, he'd probably end up looking morbidly obese. Technically, a heavyweight boxer is 200 pounds and up, and he looks too trim for that, in addition to being too short. It's a great contrast between the two boxers when Viktor Drago towers over him, and that helps reinforce the notion that Creed is the underdog, but the size difference between them also has the negative effect of making it hard for me to believe that they qualify in the same weight class.
Also starring Michael B. Jordan (last seen in "Fruitvale Station"), Sylvester Stallone (last seen in "Life Itself"), Wood Harris (last seen in "Blade Runner 2049"), Russell Hornsby (last seen in "The Hate U Give"), Dolph Lundgren (last seen in "Aquaman"), Florian Munteanu, Phylicia Rashad (last seen in "Creed"), Andre Ward (ditto), Jacob "Stitch" Duran (ditto), Jim Lampley (ditto), Max Kellerman (ditto), Brigitte Nielsen (last seen in "Rocky IV"), Milo Ventimiglia (last seen in "Sandy Wexler"), Patrice Harris, Ana Gerena, Robbie Johns, Christopher Mann, Michael Buffer (last seen in "You Don't Mess With the Zohan"), Roy Jones Jr. (last seen in "Southpaw"), Scott Van Pelt, with archive footage of Carl Weathers (last heard in "Eight Crazy Nights").
RATING: 6 out of 10 heavy truck tires
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