Creed III

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

Creed III is the third film in the Creed series spinning out of the Rocky movies, and this time round sees our main character enter retirement after winning heavyweight champion of the world. However, when an old friend gets out of prison and reconnects with Adonis the pair go down a path that will see them turn rivals in the arena they know best. Even if I didn't like the background for Adonis Creed and Damian Anderson's friendship I really loved the nature of their relationship. These were two kids who really respected one another and had big dreams around boxing before one pivotal event tore them apart. Seeing them awkwardly reconnect as adults is very well portrayed; deeper than that, it's important seeing Damian so desperately hunger for the life Adonis has. The real narrative triumph of the film is Creed's relationship with his daughter, Amara. Seeing Adonis struggle with how to parent but being such a good parent to a deaf child is massive growth after Creed II, even watching his daughter admire him so much that she seeks to be trained by her Dad is a beautiful thing. The only complaint I have about that particular storyline is that they dumped it going into the final act, we really needed a lot more.

 

This film is more intimately shot than your usual boxing feature, which really lends a bit more of a personal feel to the story itself. I'm really glad Michael B. Jordan went this way with his first time directing because it really left a distinct mark on the franchise. The soundtrack and score for Creed III is incredible too, it grounds us a little more in Adonis' background while also really pumping up the montages and fight scenes. 

Michael B. Jordan, who played Adonis Creed, still leads these movies remarkably well; he can still tap into the raw anger of Adonis despite playing a character that feels very differently written than normal. Tessa Thompson, who played Bianca Creed, has remarkably less to do than in the last film but she stands tall in her time onscreen; Thompson plays her role's distant sadness about not being able to perform anymore extremely well. Mila Davis-Kent, who played Amara Creed, is a real scene stealer in this feature; I loved her ambition to box and how she played against Jordan. Florian Munteanu, who played Viktor Drago, enters this film as a stern reminder what an intimidating mountain of power really is; I loved seeing the rivalry he and Jordan established having turned into more of a friendly one. Thaddeus J. Mixson and Spence Moore II, who played Young Adonis Creed and Young Damian Anderson respectively, really established quite a great friendship that translated well to the performances Jordan and Majors gave; Moore in particular rocked the cocky confidence his character consistently displays too.

However, the best performance came from Jonathan Majors, who played Damian Anderson. We're barely into March and thus far Majors has been dominating 2023 with some knockout performances. Yet what I liked about his portrayal of Anderson as opposed to Kang is that I really felt like I could bump into a man like Damian on the street tomorrow. Initially when first we meet him he has some jokes to crack but he really bristles around other people, he is still learning how to make moves in a life beyond prison. This is an even bigger challenge in Creed's world, Damian doesn't fit nicely into the lap of luxury and it's through this lens we first see him and Creed pull apart. I was so impressed with the deep chemistry Majors and Jordan brought to this project, you really believed these were old friends connecting, who deeply respected one another. But I felt Majors went that extra step because the subtle way he portrayed jealousy and resentment was exceptional. That's not to say there aren't light moments, watching Damian learn some basic signs and get excited to meet Amara is something really special too. There is some very vicious in how Majors physically fights, he's clearly a cunning fighter but when he brawls he just goes for it. The wild swings that man does and the open scorn he gives Adonis after the title match is nothing short of some of the best stuff in the feature.

The issues with Creed III extend from a weak script that really doesn't balance storylines and characters well at all. There would be some plot points that go so far and are just abruptly left behind, while others are kicked into gear very rapidly that it can take you by surprise. The main storyline between Damian and Adonis presents a really nice character chemistry performance but the way we get there is quite contrived. We get that classic reveal of Adonis' 'secret life' when he was younger and how he got introuble alongside Damian, a wrong place wrong time scenario. Adonis gets away and Damian goes to jail. My issue with this background is that there's no foreshadowing to it, we just get it really dumped on us in this feature, and the further it goes the more the motivating drama feels like a telenovella. There's even a whole aspect where Adonis' mother was keeping secret letters from him for years. Adonis has always been well placed as an underdog in the boxing fights he finds himself in but the movie really struggles to establish a good narrative for that, eventually settling by describing Creed as 'too old' and coming out of retirement. But there's no Rocky Balboa story here for Adonis, instead Creed has been living large in upper class apartments, extremely expensive cars and is constantly rubbing shoulders with the big executives of the sport. This is a character who wears sponsors and is nothing short of a celebrity in the world now, so when he and Damian eventually fight it becomes hard to really consider either an underdog. Adonis irresponsibly let a man who shouldn't have fight, fight and now Adonis just wants to fix his mistake is what the plot really boils down to. I'm also frustrated after watching Creed II that Bianca and Drago aren't given more to do. When these characters get to shine they really deliver, but this feature squandered some talent there.

The editing for this feature is often slowly cut, only adding to the serious pacing issues this feature had. I really was let down with the fights themselves in this film too. A lot of the fight choreography was still there but diminished for excessive slow motion punch shots or close ups of vulnerable areas boxers were about to target. This was no bigger letdown than in the final fight, where most of the match boiled into a CGI dream sequence arena that really took away from the sincerity of the final confrontation.

Wood Harris, who played Tony 'Little Duke' Burton, was a character of two parts in this; I was really disappointed to see the film treat him as a more comedic side role the further it went along. Phylicia Rashad, who played Mary-Anne Creed, goes right back to having a very frosty impassive relationship with Jordan in this film; if they were going to kill her character off they should have used her with more purpose. Jose Benavidez, who played Felix Chavez, is just here to be angry muscle; Benavidez is given the opportunity to portray a character but it is very clear he isn't up to the task.

The previous Creed and Rocky films have set an extremely high bar that the third instalment of this spinoff franchise can't quite reach. I would give Creed III a 6/10.