25 best sports movies, ranked by the dust in your eye

10. Creed (2015)

Directed by Ryan Coogler
Starring Michael B Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, and Tessa Thompson

Although the original Rocky has five sequels, only Creed made this list. While a desire to present a broad range of sports movies was the driving factor, quality was also a part of the decision. In addition to being the best follow-up to the iconic boxing drama, Creed is the only sequel in the franchise to justify its existence. That is not to say that the movies Rocky II through Rocky Balboa are bad, it’s just that they only offer minor variations on the same story. Creed offers something new.

While Adonis Creed’s (Jordan) story is similar to his mentor’s, it diverges in one important respect. In Rocky, the protagonist accepts and trains for a fight with a much higher-rated opponent to prove that a working-class Italian-American kid can go 12 rounds with the champion. In Creed, the protagonist goes on a similar journey in order to validate his entire existence. And as much as Creed is Adonis’ story, it’s also Rocky’s. But instead of being a tale about a young lion proving himself, Rocky’s story is now about a man who glory days, and very motivation for living, have long since faded away.

Watching Adonis and Rocky’s stories converge and meld is incredibly inspiring. Its lesson that broken people are sometimes the ones best equipped to help each other heal is deeply heartening. And so, even though the result of the film’s climactic fight is never in doubt, it hits with the power of a knockout punch. By the time the bell rings, you don’t even want to see the fight, you want to see the embrace that comes after.