The first time I watched “Rocky IV” as a 5-year-old in the late 1980s I was hooked on the famed “Rocky” series.

I preceded to watch all four “Rocky” films countless times on what would now be considered to be an archaic four-head VCR in my parents living room in my hometown of Belfair during my elementary school years. Much to my delight, “Rocky V” was released in 1990 while I was in the third grade. I couldn’t wait to make the trip to Regal South Sound Cinemas in Port Orchard with my dad to see it.

A mind-boggling 16 years later, the sixth installment of the “Rocky” series titled “Rocky Balboa” appeared in the theaters. My best friend Nolan Soete and I planned our entire weekend around it. After walking out of the theater in December of 2006, we were thrilled with the movie and figured the “Rocky” series had officially come to a conclusion.

We were wrong.

The night before Thanksgiving, my friend DJ Jackson and I caught the seventh movie of the “Rocky” series titled, “Creed.” As I made my way to my seat I was excited but had no expectations. “Creed” ended up exceeding all of my expectations in every way possible.

Without giving away too much of the plot, the movie focuses on Apollo Creed’s son Adonis and his quest to become a champion boxer. Adonis, who grew up in Los Angeles and was born after his father Apollo had passed away at the hands of Russia’s Ivan Drago in “Rocky IV,” makes the trip to Philadelphia to chase his dreams. He quickly persuades Rocky to train him and the journey develops from there.

The movie includes all of the usual components of a “Rocky” film including training scenes, bloody fight scenes, a love story and unbridled adversity. The centerpiece of the movie is the friendship cultivated between Adonis and Rocky. On the surface they exude the typical trainer/boxer partnership but as the film progresses it evolves, in my opinion, to the relationship experienced between Rocky and his trainer Mickey Goldmill in the first three “Rocky” films.

The thing I absolutely love about Creed is the undeniable fact that it is more than a just a sports movie. It is a story about love, friendship, hard work, overcoming adversity, self actualization and pushing oneself to the limits in the face of a gaggle of challenges.

You don’t have to be a sports fan to enjoy this flick. I wouldn’t be surprised if “Creed II” happens sometime in the next few years. “Creed” was that darn good!

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@soundpublishing.com