Just watched SOUTHPAW & CREED back to back...

[sweetviolenturge]

...and, as I'm sure most everyone agrees, CREED was a much better film.
I enjoyed SOUTHPAW for the most part, but it was just too heavy on the melodrama & cliches.
Jake Gyllenhaal was alright as Billy Hope, but I didn't think he was very convincing as a fighter. He tried hard, but his performance & his scenes in the ring just didn't work for me. And his physique didn't look like a real fighter's either. It was a bit too bulky muscle-wise & he was cut too lean. ve nothing to burn once he got into the ring. Just didn't work for me.
On the other hand, his on screen opponent played by Miguel Gomez, he was very convincing as a fighter IMO.

CREED was a hell of a good movie & IMO, went a long way toward redeeming the ROCKY series.
Sure, it also had more than it's fair share of melodrama as well ( Rocky's battle with cancer was fine, but I thought Donnie's gf having progressive hearing loss was entirely unnecessary for her character & really lent nothing to the plot ) & some cliches as well, but MUCH less so than the majority of the rest of the series.
Jordan was a revelation as Adonis Johnson/Creed & he made me totally suspend my disbelief & see him as a real fighter.
And I loved the film's use of actual world class pro fighters in key roles. It really worked to the film's benefit both in & out of the ring IMO.
Andre Ward, Victor Ortiz & Gabriel Rosado were all exceptional in their limited roles. While Tony Bellew was fantastic as Creed's nemesis. It was inspired casting & Bellew displayed that he's likely got a future as a thespian once his days in the ring are over.

Now that I've finally seen both films, I can see why SOUTHPAW was pretty much a failure at the box office. It wasn't awful by any means & I'll watch it a second time when it comes on HBO, but it's not going to be remembered as being anything even remotely special.
As for CREED, I can see why it was such a hit & I'm sure I'll be watching it again many times over. And now, I'm sad that Stallone didn't win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. I think he deserved to.

[Wales]

Never seen Southpaw, the fight poster put me off it.

[sweetviolenturge]

Never seen Southpaw, the fight poster put me off it.

LOL.
Yeah, I remember when these promo displays were in theater lobbies advertising the film & boxing savvy folks reactions to them ranged from chuckles to outrage. Dumb ass Hollywood...
And to be honest, the fact that the protagonist is a southpaw isn't really a plot point whatsoever.

[Cyclops]

I literally couldn't make it out of the first fight scene in Southpaw. It was AWFUL. The film might be alright but the boxing in it stinks and that's going to make it unwatchable for me.

I keep on hearing good things about Creed though so I will give it a go sometime.

[tigermoth87]

Southpaw sounds too caught up in shitty drama for me to be much interested in it. Like a drama movie with boxing as a backdrop. Whereas Creed was a boxing movie with a bit of drama added to it.

I loved Creed. My second favourite of the Rocky movies after 4. It was excellent and I can't wait for the sequel. I want Adonis Creed to face off against Ivan Drago's son.

And Lightning Lips, the son of Thunderlips.

[reggaereggae]

Both are sh1t.... Creed is pathetic if you're over 15

[jezzamundo]

Southpaw was ok as a drama, but a pretty poor boxing movie. The fact that every single boxer in it is orthodox is ridiculous.

Haven't seen Creed yet, but I'm a fan of the Rocky series, here's how I rate them:

1. Rocky
2. Rocky 3
3. Rocky Balboa
4. Rocky 2
5. Rocky 4
6. Rocky 5 (the only one I don't like)

[jujigatame]

Creed was great. I really don't get the complaints about it. From a legitimate acting/writing/directing perspective it was the best Rocky film since the original.

Didn't see Southpaw because it looked kinda crap.

[tiny_acres]

Southpaw was ok as a drama, but a pretty poor boxing movie. The fact that every single boxer in it is orthodox is ridiculous.

Haven't seen Creed yet, but I'm a fan of the Rocky series, here's how I rate them:

1. Rocky
2. Rocky 3
3. Rocky Balboa
4. Rocky 2
5. Rocky 4
6. Rocky 5 (the only one I don't like)

Huge Rocky fan but I hated #4 more than 5