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Creed III
(MGM)
By Lucas Allen
Much like his title character learning the ropes from his mentor Rocky Balboa, Michael B. Jordan is following in Sylvester Stallone’s footsteps as both actor and first-time director on “Creed III.” The former “Black Panther” star is also learning from his work with frequent collaborator Ryan Coogler (now co-producer and co-writer on this film) by crafting his own vision for this trilogy capper spun-off from the beloved Rocky franchise. Balboa himself isn’t in this, but the spirit of the film series that began in 1976 remains just as strong.
Now retired as a champion, Adonis Creed (Jordan) is happily married to music producer Bianca (Tessa Thompson), raising their deaf daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent), and caring for his ailing mother Mary Anne (Phylicia Rashad). He is also running his L.A. gym, curating the next generation of champions including the current champion Chavez (Jose Benavidez). Then comes the unexpected arrival of his old childhood friend Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors), who recently got out of prison after serving an 18-year sentence. Adonis soon welcomed him back in his life by letting him become a sparring partner to Chavez, who’s having an upcoming match with Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu).
However, Damian still holds a grudge with Adonis over the reason for his prison sentence in the first place. That fury is unleashed when he gets in the ring with Chavez with shocking results. Feeling guilty about it, Adonis ends up challenging his former friend-turned-enemy for a championship match. But he’ll have to fight more than his opponent when he has to face both his past and his age.
Besides the usual story beats, the movie once again delves more into the emotional beats than this series has ever done previously. Longtime fans can recognize bits and pieces of “Rocky III” and “V” scattered throughout the story, but can also see how they’re better handled here thanks to some fine-tuned storytelling. As much as Balboa himself is missed, the formula that’s been keeping this franchise going for nearly five decades still works well with this film especially with fresh new eyes. Not to mention, this spin-off series continues to earn the name “legacy franchise” more than any recent series revival.
For his directorial debut, Jordan puts all his knowledge and talent to good use, while marking his own vision for the film. From the start, you can tell he understands how to shoot angles, lighting, editing, and music choices to help shape the story. In terms of making the fight scenes rather than being standard boxing drama, he creates visuals that enhances the intensity and brutality of each punch and knockdown. Even the usual training montage gets a real shot in the arm of emotional intensity that’ll move you and excite you at the same time.
There’s no better example of bringing something new to this series than the final fight sequence taking place at Dodger Stadium. Rather than the usual structure this franchise usually brings, Jordan aims for an unconventional approach by disregarding the montage and instead having some sort of visual representation to this battle. This approach works on many levels that it makes the predictable conclusion more impactful.
Besides giving another fantastic performance, Jordan also gets extra points for directing his co-stars. Thompson and Rashad once again bring pathos to their understated roles, while newcomer Davis-Kent is full of joy in all her scenes. Much like the recent “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” the MVP of the cast is Majors, giving another nuanced antagonist performance with the right level of devilish charisma. Whether or not his character is somehow related to Clubber Lang from “Rocky III” remains to be seen, but the actor seems to wonderfully inhabit Mr. T’s awesome screen presence in his performance.
Even without Rocky, “Creed III” still succeeds at reestablishing itself as part of a long-standing franchise with a fresh vision to boot thanks primarily to Jordan. If the actor/director wants to make a fourth movie, he’ll certainly have what it takes to keep his newfound vision going plus pull enough punches to keep this series going.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: PG-13 (for intense sports action, violence, and some strong language)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.75 Stars (Out of Four)
