Review of Creed III (2023) by Moviemitch96 — 07 Mar 2023

In this third outing in the 'Creed' franchise, Michael B. Jordan stars as the titular Adonis Creed, son of late famed boxing legend Apollo Creed, and finds himself face to face with a childhood friend-turned-rival looking for a shot at the heavyweight title.

Ever since the first 'Creed' film was released back in 2015 and thereby expanding upon the 'Rocky' franchise that humbly began all the way back in 1976 with Sylvester Stallone (who's noticeably absent for the very first time with this film), I've been rather interested to see where things would go from there for these characters and their descendants, and Jordan has always remained a formidable talent.

This time however, he not only delivers another knockout performance on camera, but also handles offscreen duties rather deftly as the film's director. He carries both the muscle and the emotional heft needed for us to really root for him till the end.

That being said, the film itself isn't quite without its shortcomings. For starters, the film uses an almost gratuitous amount of corny slow-mo shots of characters getting punched and pummeled around till we can see their skin ripple and glisten with an absurd amount of sweat.

It becomes over-reliant on this almost to the point of becoming unintentionally humorous. Furthermore, it does contain a lot of the same predictable plot beats that the franchise has become known for (training montage included), and I also couldn't help but feel like the film felt incomplete without at least a 2 or so-minute cameo from Stallone as Rocky.

It definitely wouldn't have weighed the film down at all in my humble opinion. On the plus side however, besides Jordan's stellar performance, Johnathan Majors (hot off of his villainous turn as Kang the Conqueror in 'Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania') once again delivers an all-too commanding and bravado performance here as the antagonistic rival.

Tessa Thompson also continues to hold her own well as Adonis 's wife. The boxing sequences dazzle at times but also get a little too stylized and carried away at times for my liking. But overall, it's passable enough to feel enjoyable while also not quite feeling necessary to the franchise.

Familiar and predictable plot beats weigh it down more often than I'd like, along with some corny and overly stylish slow motion and fight sequences, but Jordan's commitment to the character and legacy can't help but still be admirable.