Movie Breakdown: Creed III

Pre-Screening Stance:

Jonathan Majors looking ripped! Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut! Tessa Thompson in general! Even if you’re side-eyeing this Rocky spin-off for getting yet another entry, you have to admit that the bones of Creed III are pretty dang enticing.

Post-Screening Ramble:

Creed III is a fairly paint by numbers sports drama. The gist of the story is somewhat similar to Rocky 3 in that it sees Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) retire after a very successful (and arguably soft) run of fights and then get dragged back into the ring by a rowdy new challenger. However, where Clubber Lang was an unknown bruiser nowhere to be found on Rocky’s radar, Adonis’ foe is an old friend, Damian (Jonathan Majors), who was once a promising young boxer before getting sent to prison. Diamond Dame, as he is called by his colleagues, is fine with hurting whomever in order to get his shot at the title and – guess what – Adonis is the only one that can put an end to it.

Like the plot of Creed III, the rest of the movie is light on surprises. The performances are good, with Majors impressing as Damian and Phylicia Rashad putting in another endearing turn as Adonis’ mother. Jordan, in his directorial debut, does a serviceable job, especially when it comes to the quieter moments where Adonis is interacting with his family or Damian. I did think the fight scenes – the small handful that there are – could have used less CG, and I didn’t really feel as though the final match quite hit the emotional highs that I was expecting it to, but it all works well enough. Ultimately, Creed III is certainly fine, but it’s also too safe, too guarded – there’s just not a single risk to be had across the entire movie, and I think it really would have benefited from a few inspired choices.

Creed III isn’t near as great as Creed but it’s at least on par with the second movie. It opens in theaters on March 3.

One Last Thought:

Despite all the hubbub that’s been swirling around between Sylvester Stallone and producer Irwin Winkler, I thought for sure there would be a glimpse or a mention of Rocky in this movie. Nope! Maybe it’s silly, but this kind of bummed me out.