Creed

Imagine you are a member of a writing team sitting down to pen the latest installment in a long running and successful movie franchise. You could play it safe and basically "repeat" what has worked before and/or you could step out and innovate with something new. There are risks associated with both choices.

In the new film in the Rocky series, titled "Creed," written and directed by Ryan ("Fruitvale Station") Coogler, the writers come up with a real winner, one that lovingly embraces the best of the past, while presenting a brand new central hero in Adonis Johnson, illegitimate son of Apollo Creed, played expertly by Michael B. ("The Wire") Jordan.

Abandoned to foster care as a child, Adonis early starts fighting for his identity. And even after Creed's wife adopts him, giving him a life full of opportunity, Adonis never loses that fighting spirit and seeks to fulfill it by acquiring a mentor, Rocky Balboa. What happens next, as the aged Rocky warms up to Adonis and takes him under his wing, is a heartfelt chapter in the Rocky saga. Sylvester Stallone's pitch-perfect performance as the humble and humorous Balboa may very well earn him an Oscar in the next awards season.