First off let me say that I have been a life long Rocky fan. With that being said I went into this film very cautious as almost the entire cast and crew were brand new. The trailers looked good, but today a good trailer is not necessarily an indicator of a good film. Sylvester Stallone killed it as a much older and more breakable Rocky. Michael B. Jordan's performance was as good if not better than Sly's. I think that from this day forward anytime I see Jordan, I will think of him as Creed and not whatever character he is playing. The story was engrossing and well thought out. The film pays a great amount of respect to the Rocky films while at the same time carving out it's own place in boxing film history. Honestly I have no idea how accessible this film would be to someone who's never seen a Rocky film, but I think the way the story flows it wouldn't be too much of an issue. Again, highly recommended.