Creed III (2023) Review

Time: 116 Minutes
Age Rating: Violence & offensive language
Cast:
Michael B. Jordan as Adonis “Donnie” Creed
Tessa Thompson as Bianca Taylor-Creed
Jonathan Majors as Damian “Diamond Dame” Anderson
Wood Harris as Tony “Little Duke” Evers
Florian Munteanu as Viktor Drago
Phylicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed
Director: Michael B. Jordan

Still dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed is thriving in his career and family life. When Damian, a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy resurfaces after serving time in prison, he’s eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian — a fighter who has nothing to lose.

I was looking forward to Creed III. I had only watched Rocky but found the first Creed to be a great film, and Creed II to be a solid follow up. Creed III particularly had some interesting things going for it. Not only will be the first movie in the franchise to not have Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, but it would have Creed actor Michael B. Jordan directing (like how Stallone directed some of the Rocky movies). The latest film in the franchise did not disappoint.

While the previous two Creed movies were based off things that happened in the Rocky movies, Creed III is the first movie completely about Adonis Creed. The story is unsurprisingly straightforward and formulaic, you can pretty much tell what will happen before going into the movie, nonetheless it is done very well. There is a strong focus and emphasis on character, and it succeeds at telling a personal story. Much like the series in general, Creed III is very heartfelt. There’s a lot of vulnerability and emotional nuance, particularly when it comes to the connection between Creed and Damian (Jonathan Majors). As you can expect, it all builds up to the boxing match in the last act, which is immensely satisfying to watch. At 2 hours, Creed III is a little short, and it could’ve done with an extra 15-20 minutes to flesh out some of its story and characters. There are some undercooked relationships which didn’t have much payoff in the second half. For example, in the first half there are some scenes showing Adonis’s daughter wanting to learn to fight like her father, and it seemed like it was going to be an ongoing story thread, but doesn’t even become much of a subplot. Also, it’s not a big deal, but you really feel the absence of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa (which is possibly due to some behind the scenes issues). The story works perfectly well without him and Rocky’s arc seemed to come to a close in the previous Creed movies. Nonetheless, I feel like there’s a couple of moments where he could’ve played a small part.

The acting is great as to be expected. Michael B. Jordan once again shines as Adonis Creed, and he delivers on the physicality and emotion of his character. Tessa Thompson reprises her role as Bianca and is good as always, although I wish there was a little more of her. Another good performance is from Mila Davis-Kent as their daughter Amara. There is a strong and genuine family dynamic between these three, and I wish we got more of it. However, Jonathan Majors was the standout as the main antagonist, with his character having a personal connection to Adonis from when they were kids. Majors gives an intimidating yet layered and nuanced performance here, he brought so much to the role, and has a very convincing dynamic with Jordan.

I was most intrigued by the fact that Michael B. Jordan would be directing, considering that it would also be his directorial debut. With Creed III, he has already proved himself to be a great director. From what I can tell, it’s stylistically different to any Rocky/Creed movie that came before, making it a unique entry in the franchise. One of the most interesting things to hear in the lead up to its release was that Jordan said that much of his style was inspired by anime, and watching the movie you can see that. It is hyper stylised but refreshing and doesn’t feel too out of place. It is visually gorgeous and very well put together. You mostly see the anime influence in the boxing scenes, which are intense and exhilarating to watch. The style added so much flare and energy, the fight chorography is excellent, the camerawork is exciting and quick, and some distinct choices including slow motion and quick pans really add a lot. The final fight is particularly electric and was something special to watch on the big screen.

Creed III is another great entry in the franchise, and an incredible character driven boxing drama, well directed with strong stylistic and creative choices, stellar fight scenes, and great performances. While it works as a trilogy, if they decide to do a fourth Creed movie, I’d be on board to see that too. I would also love to see Michael B. Jordan direct more movies because he’s done a fantastic job here.

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Creed (2015) Review

Time: 133 Minutes
Age Rating: Violence and Offensive Language
Cast:
Michael B. Jordan as Adonis “Donnie” Johnson Creed
Sylvester Stallone as Robert “Rocky” Balboa, Sr.
Tessa Thompson as Bianca
Phylicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed
Wood Harris as Tony “Little Duke” Evers
Tony Bellew as “Pretty” Ricky Conlan
Director: Ryan Coogler

Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) is the son of the famous boxing champion Apollo Creed, who died in a boxing match in Rocky IV. Adonis wasn’t born until after his father’s death and wants to follow his father’s footsteps in boxing. He seeks a mentor who is the former heavyweight boxing champion and former friend of Apollo Creed, the retired Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). Rocky eventually agrees to mentor Adonis. With Rocky’s help they hope to get a title job to face even deadlier opponents than his father. But whether he is a true fighter remains to be seen….

I haven’t watched many of the Rocky movies, I only really watched the first one; so although I was interested in seeing this movie for stars Michael B. Jordan and returning Rocky actor Sylvester Stallone as well as director Ryan Coogler, Creed wasn’t something that I couldn’t wait to see until I heard tremendous acclaim. Everyone is saying that this is the best Rocky film since the original, as I haven’t seen any of the other films I can’t attest to that, but I’m sure that’s the case. However calling Creed a Rocky movie or a boxing movie for that matter, is cutting it short in how incredible it is.

Ryan Coogler was an interesting choice as director for a Rocky film, seeing as how he only did one film beforehand but as I said earlier, calling Creed a Rocky movie is cutting it short. He did an excellent job with this film. First of all the writing and dialogue is spectacular. I really liked the character of Adonis, he was going through a journey similar but different from Rocky. One thing I like about this is that Adonis is trying to make his own mark on the world without riding the coattails of his father’s name while this movie fights to make its own place in cinema without riding the coattails of the Rocky name. This is what I’m hoping Star Wars: The Force Awakens does, to be great as the previous movies but at the same time is its own thing as well. I also like how you don’t have to have watched the previous Rocky movies or any boxing movies in order to love it like I did.

Michael B. Jordan shows once again that he is a great actor. He sells both the physical and emotional aspects and this might be his best performance to date. Another person that should be mentioned is Sylvester Stallone. He is absolutely incredible in this movie, I don’t know the last time I’ve seen him give a performance this good. I actually think it’s possible to be nominated (and perhaps win) for best supporting actor, I don’t usually think of these sorts of things but he’s that good.

The scenes were incredibly well shot, all the environments look dark and real and this really added to the tone of the film. There aren’t many boxing scenes in this movie but when it’s there, it puts you right in the middle of the action. There are many highlights, the end fight was good but the fight I personally thought was the best was the one previously where I swear, all of it is done in one shot. I don’t know if there was any camera tricks used but it looked authentic and real and even if it wasn’t done in one shot, it’s incredible that they made it look like it.

Creed is hands down one of the best films of the year. The real performances from Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone as well as the great story by Ryan Coogler, makes it an unforgettable experience. Even if you aren’t a big Rocky fan or a big fan of boxing movies, you should check it out as soon as possible. I don’t know if there are going to be any more Creed movies but if there is, I’m definitely looking forward to them, Jordan, Stallone and Coogler have made an amazing movie and one of the best of 2015 for sure.