By Bob Garver<\/p>\n
This past weekend, less than a million dollars separated strong Thanksgiving holdover \u201cCreed\u201d from flimsy newcomer \u201cKrampus.\u201d I\u2019ve decided to take a look at both films.<\/p>\n
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\u201cCreed\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCreed\u201d tells the story of Adonis \u201cDonny\u201d Creed (Michael B. Jordan), son of legendary boxer Apollo Creed. And who was Apollo Creed\u2019s most famous opponent? That\u2019s right, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). Some say that this should be considered a seventh \u201cRocky\u201d movie, I say that it\u2019s perfectly fine simply being the first \u201cCreed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although young Donny doesn\u2019t want to use the Creed name to help his career, he does use his family history to convince the aged Rocky to be his trainer. Rocky uses his influence to get Donny a major fight against a local standout (Gabe Rosato), and this leads to Donny getting a shot at the title against the undefeated world champion (Tony Bellew). Donny is suddenly in over his head, being given a title shot that no one thinks he\u2019s earned. Sound familiar?<\/p>\n
In fact the biggest problem with \u201cCreed\u201d is that it progresses so similarly to the first \u201cRocky.\u201d There\u2019s the completely expected conflict, romance, training (this movie has Donny do the classic \u201cRocky\u201d exercise with the moving meat, but not the one with the hanging meat, much to my disappointment), and of course, the spectacle of the final fight. He spends most of it at a disadvantage, what a shocker.<\/p>\n
But the predictable story shouldn\u2019t take away from what \u201cCreed\u201d does right. These elements include award-worthy acting, well-written characters, and harrowing fight sequences (including one done in an unbroken shot). Plus it\u2019s hard not to get pumped up suckered into cheering just as much as with any \u201cRocky\u201d movie. It\u2019s everything you expect, but it\u2019s also everything you want.<\/p>\n
I suppose that \u201cCreed\u201d not wanting to use the \u201cRocky\u201d title for name recognition is similar to Donny not wanting to use the Creed name to help his career. And as with Adonis Creed, this movie fights to earn respect and I believe it succeeds. It is admirable in its own right.<\/p>\n
Three Stars out of Five.<\/p>\n
\u201cCreed\u201d is rated PG-13 for violence, language and some sensuality. Its running time is 133 minutes.<\/p>\n
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\u201cKrampus\u201d<\/p>\n
There are many bad words I can use to describe \u201cKrampus.\u201d Ugly and Unfunny spring to mind, but I\u2019m going to wait until the end to let you know the one that I think best describes it.<\/p>\n
The plot sees young Max (Emjay Anthony) miserable at Christmas. His parents (Adam Scott and Toni Collette) aren\u2019t happy, his aunt and uncle (Allison Tolman and David Koechner) and their whole side of the family are jerks, everybody\u2019s mad at everybody, and nobody believes in Santa. Max curses the holiday and unleashes the Christmas demon Krampus, who terrorizes the neighborhood and starts abducting the family one by one.<\/p>\n
This movie is Ugly, but not in a good way. Which is to say that it\u2019s not scary. Krampus and his minions have cheap faces that I wanted to rip apart, but only because they look like they need to be scrapped, not because they seem like a threat.<\/p>\n
The movie is Unfunny because it thinks it\u2019s being original by letting us know that people can be mean around Christmas, in contrast to the harmonious image of the season. I\u2019ve been hearing cynical Christmas jokes all my life, and this movie brings nothing new to the table (there are barely, and I mean barely, enough funny lines to earn this movie a half star from me).<\/p>\n
\u201cKrampus\u201d bills itself as a Horror Comedy, and it fails at both genres. It\u2019s a movie about people you won\u2019t like, but who don\u2019t deserve their fate just enough that you can\u2019t relish in bad things happening to them. Nobody should be happy with anything that happen in this move. The bad word that sums up this movie best is Unhappy.<\/p>\n
One and a Half Stars out of Five.<\/p>\n
\u201cKrampus\u201d is rated PG-13 for sequences of horror violence\/terror, language and some drug material. Its running time is 98 minutes.<\/p>\n