“Creed III” Review (2023)
Written by Victor DeBonis
In the latest installment of the franchise, “Creed III” challenges the audience to ask what the steps consist of when it comes to leaving behind the unpleasant moments of one’s past and moving ahead. One of the biggest strengths of this movie doesn’t simply come from the tension between Adonis Creed (played once again by star and director Michael B. Jordan) and former comrade Damian Anderson (played by Jonathan Majors) but, also, what the current situation is regarding his family’s current status.
Specifically, a conflict centers around leading Creed’s daughter, Amara (played by Mila Davis-Kent) to possibly following in her father’s footsteps while facing challenges of her own in her present life. The interactions between Amara and her parents, particularly between her and her father, are moving to witness, and they contain plenty of charm and genuine compassion as presented through their exchanges and their dedication to their steady communication with each other. Amara’s parents also present their love for their daughter through facing challenges in trying to guide their daughter down the right path as she navigates her fair share of obstacles. Amara possesses a fighting spirit not unlike her father’s, and, while this is certainly admirable, Adonis also grapples with the conflict of encouraging her towards the direction of using that energy for the right purposes. Moments occur in which the hero is showing his child the ropes, so to speak, and their emotional bond and challenges from within their relationship will connect with those who have raised children of their own or used to. The heart of this film beats strongly from the love and conflicts within this family, and it rarely falters.
What I’ve always enjoyed about the “Creed” movies and some of the “Rocky” movies partly comes from their ability to use their heroes’ journeys to voice relatable themes and dilemmas. For instance, “Rocky II” shines in great part from illustrating its hero’s struggle with trying to find a steady job following unexpected circumstances while also balancing the newfound complications of his personal life. The much-underappreciated “Rocky Balboa” deals with the hardship of loss and trying to not linger thinking about the happier era of one’s past in the hopes of adjusting to an arguably harder present-day. And “Creed II” succeeded in helping the audience attempt to understand the hardship of the antagonist as he and his family struggle to reclaim honor after their defeat from years ago.
True, these films are sometimes recognized for their over-the-top moments, and there is great entertainment value from them to be sure. However, part of what makes people root for Rocky and stories from the Rocky universe and respect them on a higher level is witnessing how the protagonists of these movies face their battles and demons that are not too different from what everyday people face. Rocky and Adonis may have become powerful sports heroes in their paths, but, similar to what pretty much any person can attest to from their own journeys in life, their path to get to where they are didn’t come without their share of challenges and losses. No hero worth his salt achieves his success and joy without having faced his own battles and hardship along, particularly from their earlier days, and “Creed III” continues to explore Adonis attempting to grapple with the trauma from his own past days.
Similar to others, I was surprised to learn about Sylvester Stallone not starring in this film. One can seek out the reasons for why this happened on his own time, but, in short, creative and personal differences led to Stallone deciding not to come back as Balboa for this round. Sad as it is to not see him return as this beloved character, I can understand the reasoning for why he chose not to come back for this film based on what was mentioned in the reports. I also didn’t feel that, at this point, Adonis’ mentor was required to show up in a movie that is part of a trilogy mainly focused on Adonis Creed. With all of this being said, I’d be lying if I said that specific times of Adonis and his family wouldn’t have gained further joy and heart from Rocky’s presence. Rocky Balboa was and always has been the golden example of a physically big hero with a heart of gold and solid wisdom, and it would’ve been neat to see how this character might’ve supported or guided Adonis in this darker chapter of his story. So, seeing a movie in Rocky’s universe without Rocky himself did feel strange at points.
As the star of the film, Michael B. Jordan maintains his familiar charisma and composes his powerful instinct as he delivers his punches against his opponents in the arena. His aggressive eyes lock onto his adversaries, yet he holds himself back from not physically lashing out. He moves with purpose and quick wits within the ring, and he can effectively present a surprising patience and sly comeback outside of it, depending on the given situation. Jordan is great at not letting any ego pop up to dictate his actions. He occasionally gives straightforward words of wisdom to up-and-coming boxing stars and can surprisingly keep calm composure amidst extremely uncomfortable situations in public. An apparent maturity and professionalism is present with Adonis in this installment, and I greatly respect that.
Jonathan Majors expresses an unsettling persistence via vicious, physical exchanges and frequent mentioning of seeking fame and glory without working hard to find it. Occasionally, he chuckles and shares a quick joke. Beyond this, Damian often parades through Creed’s world with an arrogance that demands to have exactly what his former buddy has without consideration of what it means to get there with the right steps. As good as Major was as Kang in the recent “Ant Man 3” I didn’t truly feel uneasy with that villain’s presence as I did with him in “Creed III.” Here, he pummels his opponents hard and caused me to wince in several instances. Majors chuckles in his former friend’s face and proudly smiles after unnecessarily inflicting severe pain to others. These actions and others successfully light a fire in his former buddy as well as the audience. I was genuinely disturbed with Majors as the antagonist in this movie, and I was very eager to see how the hero would handle his former friend’s actions in the future events of the film.
To my surprise, there weren’t as many chuckles from the friendship between him and Jordan as I anticipated. The uncomfortable tension between these two often erupts without either of these characters sharing a word. Their awkward attempts to start or continue a conversation and look each other in the eye are enough to voice an uneasy truth: Serious trauma occurred involving these two, and nothing has truly been resolved at this point.
As intriguing as Jordan and Majors’ relationship is, it could’ve benefitted from deeper exploration about what their relationship was like outside of the boxing world. Their shared hardship in their childhood home and love for hip-hop music is neat, but there isn’t much depth to other similarities and traits about who they are individually outside of that. To the film’s credit, however, Jordan and Majors succeed at occasionally exchanging attempts at encouragement and tiny bits of humor, and, in their serious conversations, they speak in the direct, no-beating-around-the-bush tone of friends who looked out for each other for years and years at one point in time. Both their rivalry and friendship from before feels believable as a result.
As a director, Michael B. Jordan proves himself as quite talented behind the camera. He understands the importance of presenting wider shots and silence to allow his characters to absorb the weight of their quiet, emotional moments. Plus, he stages introductions and fights via intense and visually thrilling methods. Easily, some of the best scenes in this film come from the matches themselves. In “Creed III”, the fights are greatly influenced by Jordan’s love for anime. Rapid close-ups of boxers and tight zipping around of the camera on multiple sides create a highly thrilling environment and greater sense of energy than I usually experience from viewing regular boxing rounds in a movie. Punches and swings from fighters carry ferocious power, due to precise editing and tighter focus on specific shots of people being walloped through unexpected ways. One vicious fight move leads to another in a flurry, but the editing and direction fiercely follows the battle moves enough to never lose focus and always illustrate the aggressive emotions and power of both opponents via moments that reminded me of fighting scenes from episodes of “Dragonball Z” and other shows from the medium of anime. Jordan’s visual imagination and inspiration from the medium of Japanese animation particularly comes alive in the climactic fight through specific sequences, and it resulted in one of the most entertaining fights that I’ve viewed in a recent film in some time. As someone who absolutely loves the medium of Japanese anime and has genuinely felt its importance from various points in my life and identified it as a strong part of helping me and others appreciate film more, I was vastly delighted to see Jordan’s passion for the medium shine through in specific parts of this film.
“Creed III” made me quite happy in general. Some moments, as well as the connection between Majors and Jordan, could’ve been dived into greater depth and led to an amazing movie, but the soul and creativity of this franchise still strongly shines and leads to some great moments. The interactions and acting is terrific, the conflict is depicted with vivid tension, and the fights contain thrills and imagination through the style in which they’re presented. Plus, themes of family and attempts to make peace with one’s past are solidly explored and presented via heartfelt moments and believable connections amidst these characters.
“Creed III” carries a sturdy punch amidst its presence and is a very good time.
B+