CREED III Review
“Every bit as relevant and distinctly Jordan’s, as the original Rocky was to Stallone. ”
I honestly can’t remember much of what happened in Creed II, who Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed fought, or even whether I liked the movie at all, compared to Ryan Cooger’s terrific 2015 Rocky reboot, Creed. The idea of actor Michael B. Jordan taking over as a director could have gone a number of different ways from there, and thankfully, he delivers a knock out. (I promise that’s the first and only boxing pun I’ll use… it felt funny at the time, just like most of my jokes.)
After a flashback prologue involving the younger Adonis tagging along with his older boxing buddy, Damian “Dame” Anderson, to watch him win the Golden Gloves. Later that same night, it leads to an altercation with another individual. We then cut to the present day, as Creed has retired and is now working as a trainer and mentor at a boxing gym. He soon re-encounters Dame (Jonathan Majors), who’s been released after 18 years in prison and is ready to go back after the championship he sought decades earlier. By pure luck and circumstance, Dame gets a rare opportunity to fight the current champ Felix Chavez (Jose Benavidez); after Dame wins, he begins to egg Adonis on to fight him in the ring and settle an old score.
If you’ve seen any of the trailers or commercials for Creed III, you probably already know that general plot, and it isn’t too difficult to figure out where things are going if you’ve seen any previous “Rocky” movie or the “Creed” spin-offs. This movie isn’t just about Jordan’s Adonis, and like the recent Magic Mike’s Last Dance, having such a great foil as Dame really pushes both Creed and Jordan. Majors continues to be a true acting powerhouse, but Jordan is right there with him to drive the movie to even greater dramatic heights. Their scenes together, whether it’s in the ring or out, are electric and very much the highlight of Creed III.
Everything in between tends to be there to raise the stakes and tension on this tenuous relationship, with that opening scene being quite pivotal, as we see more of what happened and how it led to Dame’s incarceration each time we revisit it. Sure, there’s something fairly predictable about where Creed III is heading, especially if you’ve seen any boxing movie, but the set-up and how things build makes the final act more than worth the wait.
There are many great actors around the duo, as well, from the always-incredible Tessa Thompson as Adonis’ wife Bianca, who has given up her own recording/performing career to produce others, their fully deaf daughter Amara (a delightful, scene-stealing Mila Davis-Kent), and Adonis’ mother, played by Phylicia Rashad, no less than a legend.
Of course, we have to acknowledge Creed III as Jordan’s directorial debut, and he’s made enough movies as an actor to know that the first thing a director needs to have is a great script and cast – check and check. First off, he has a great script written by Keegan Coogler (who wrote that awful Space Jam sequel) and Zach Baylin, Oscar nominee for King Richard, working from a story they came up with Ryan Coogler (also a producer on the film). The latter Coogler was only involved as a producer on the previous film, so having him more involved also gives Jordan a boost. Not to take away anything from what Jordan accomplishes as a director, but he clearly paid attention while working with Coogler previously and often uses his own presence acting in scenes to allow his entire cast to do their best work.
It was equally important to have great below the line collaborators, and besides bringing back Creed II cinematographer, Kramer Morgenthau, Jordan has two fantastic editors in Jessica Baclese (Captain Marvel) and Tyler Nelson (The Batman), and has a fantastic soundtrack of hip-hop tracks pulled together by Joseph Shirley’s score. Pacing is another important factor of any movie, but especially one like Creed III, and Jordan really uses his talented collaborators to make sure that the one he wanted is maintained throughout.
Sadly, I didn’t get to watch Creed III in IMAX, despite hearing that Jordan filmed his debut using IMAX cameras. I’m not sure if it’s necessary for the majority of the film, but I can see how maybe the larger screen could add something to the boxing scenes, especially the grand finale, which takes place at Dodgers Stadium, the proverbial “Battle of Los Angeles.” In fact, the final face-off between Adonis and Dame is absolutely spectacular, since Jordan films it in such an original and dramatic way unlike anything we’ve seen in dozens of boxing classics that has preceded this one.
It’s pretty obvious to me that Jordan is likely to follow the Clooneys and Afflecks and Batemans into becoming a legit film director. If the original Creed allowed Michael B. Jordan to pick up the baton from Stallone, he fully has taken over the franchise with Creed III and made it his own. He has made a solid action-drama that’s every bit as relevant and distinctly his, as the original Rocky was to Stallone.
Rating: 8/10
Creed III opens on Friday, March 3 with previews on Thursday night. (All pictures courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.)