There was no more appropriate time than now for the Creed franchise to untether itself from the broader Rocky brand. Creed II made for a fitting swan song for Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa as the old man had atoned for many of the past sins that had tortured him for decades and was in the process of reconciling with his estranged son at the end of the film while Adonis Creed's (Michael B. Jordan) career was in a good enough place that he could withstand the blow of Balboa stepping down as his trainer. Handing over the directorial reigns to Jordan himself, Creed III proves that Creed is just as compelling of a figure without Balboa by his side as he was with him.
At the start of Creed III, Adonis ends his boxing career on a storybook note by winning the Unified Heavyweight Title. After a 3-year flash forward, it's revealed that Adonis has become a different kind of titan in the boxing world as he runs a gym with his longtime trainer Little Duke (Wood Harris) and is working as a promoter for the current heavyweight champion Felix Chavez (Jose Benavidez Jr.). This pivot away from the ring has also allowed for him to spend more time with his wife Biance (Tessa Thompson)-who also made a career pivot from singing to producing to preserve what remains of her hearing and their daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent)-who might share her father and grandfather's fighting DNA. Adonis' comfortable post-fighting life is disrupted when his old friend/first boxing protege Damian "Dame" Anderson (Jonathan Majors) unexpectedly shows up at his gym.
Dame was effectively Adonis' big brother as they bounced around the Los Angeles foster care system together and just recently finished up an 18-year prison sentence that stemmed from an incident where he was trying to protect Adonis. As a courtesy, Adonis agrees to train Dame and help him secure his first professional match. When it quickly becomes clear that Dame has more on his mind than living out his long-delayed boxing dream, Adonis has to make some tough decisions that ultimately leads him to make a return to the ring.
Similar to the treatment that Rocky himself received in the previous two films, Creed III forces Adonis to finally confront the pain of his past. The divergent paths these two men went on in life could've easily been reversed if things worked out differently on the night of Dame's arrest and deep down, both of these men know that-which is why Dame is filled with so much rage and Adonis is overcome with such guilt when Dame re-enters his life.
Introducing this backstory instantly makes Dame the most sympathetic, compelling antagonist of any Rocky or Creed film. As the details of their history emerges, the film forces you to regularly question whether or not Adonis is the hero of this story due to his treatment of Dame in both the past and present. This conflict is reflected beautifully in the performances as Jordan allows Adonis' magnetic tough guy persona to slowly break until it's revealed how broken and scared he really is while Majors pairs the bravado, jealously and obsessive motivation to win at any cost that is to be expected out of a character seeking revenge against a person they used to love with a quiet sadness that makes his journey that much more tragic. Eventually and inevitably, the film puts you back into Creed's corner, but challenging Adonis' hero status at this advanced stage in the franchise is a winning subversion of the Rocky formula that supercharges the emotional and entertainment value of the movie.
Unsurprisingly, the part of taking on directorial responsibilities that Jordan seems to relish the most is staging the boxing scenes. Both of the previous Creed films had terrific, electrifying boxing sequences (the one take fight in Mexico from the original is particular impressive) and Jordan managed to match, if not exceed those efforts by taking some unexpected approaches to filming boxing matches. There are some wildly stylish edits, liberal use of unusual camera angles and perfectly deployed uses of slow motion to emphasize the impact of a punch that make the fights feel like boss battles from a video game. The use of these techniques gradually builds up to the huge finale that is not only wildly creative in how it approaches the action but does a tremendous job of illustrating the long-suppressed emotions that are driving the fight between Adonis and Dame. As impressive as Jordan's handling of the pure dramatic scenes are, it's these moments in the ring where his vision and natural filmmaking ability really shine through.
Not to disrespect what Stallone accomplished over the years, but I believe Creed III firmly solidifies that the spin-off of Rocky has managed to surpass the quality of the original franchise. All 3 movies have elevated their traditional sports movie structures with genuine emotional depth, terrific acting and impeccable fight scenes and have yet to show any of the fatigue or questionable creative choices that eventually weakened the original Rocky series. There's just so much love, care and filmmaking craftsmanship put into these movies and if Jordan, Thompson-who gets less screen time than the previous films here due to the Adonis vs. Dame narrative, but remains a warm, engaging presence who steals the show in multiple scenes-and Ryan Coogler want to keep making these movies for as long as Stallone did, that would be a welcome gift in a world where excellent expansions of IP are so rare.
Grade: A
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