Creed III (2023)

Creed III. This is a film that I was eagerly awaiting having been a fan of the first two instalments in the series. This film, however, distinctly separates itself from its predecessors. The two major changes with the film were first, the absence of Rocky (Sylvester Stallone), a pivotal character in the first two movies and by far the most iconic character in the franchise, paving the way for Creed's story. The absence of his character implying Adonis Creed's full development as someone no longer needing any mentorship, mirrored in the narrative where he is depicted as a veteran of the boxing game, returning to the ring after three years in retirement. Despite Adonis' full development, the complete absence of Sylvester Stallone's character does almost seem to disrespect and undermine Rocky's impact on him. Previously Rocky is viewed almost as a family member and father figure to Adonis, whereas as in this film he is suddenly completely absent. The second major change with this movie is that it is Michael B. Jordan's directorial debut. This comes with a new, pronounced direction in the artistic style of the film which I will delve into later. Before watching this film on the big screen, I did have some predispositions towards the plot. The narrative is driven by a character from Adonis' past, who despite being older than the retired Adonis Creed, is able to challenge for the heavyweight title soon after being released from prison, from which he served 18 years. My prejudice towards the narrative was solely due to the issue that Damian (Jonathan Majors) appears a very unlikely contender for the belt having undergone extremely sparse formal boxing training before his first professional fight where he challenges for the belt. Despite my preconception of the film, I was since persuaded that this was not actually too fantastical, due to the execution of the plot where Damian is portrayed not as a great boxer but as a desperate, driven individual who will do almost anything to achieve the dream he was robbed of so many years ago.

The films runtime is 1hr 57mins. The film felt very structured and carried the story swiftly, however, on few occasions scenes integral to the movie did not appear adequately supplemented. The most noticeable evidence of this was the death of Adonis Creed's mother, a character who has been around, supporting Adonis since the start of the 'Creed' series. This part of the story seemed to pass too quickly with very minimal subsequent effects, especially on Creed. The death of his mother instead of being portrayed with extreme emotion was portrayed to be merely an instrument for the film's narrative, providing Creed with motivation to fight Damian himself. Furthermore, the training montage, whilst being satisfactory did not stand up to the montages of the previous films, not fully demonstrating the hunger and fight of Adonis. The main fight of the film, Creed VS Anderson, further did not feel as though it was hyped up enough, it simply felt as though an offer to fight was extended and accepted, when due to the history between the fighters it seemed as though opportunities to hype up the tension of the fight were missed. Ontop of this the fight itself was quite short. After an artistic perception of the fighter's tunnel vision and motivations the audience find themselves in round 11. When this round comes to an end and the widely anticipated twelfth and final round begins, after a few shots are traded Creed is able to end it all with one unsatisfying headshot. No determination or inner battle was portrayed from either of the characters, further contributing to the underwhelming nature of the whole scene. The main disappointment from this film for myself was simply the lack of emphasis on scenes which felt as though they should be more impactful. The lack of emphasis on these scenes also felt unnecessary due to the runtime of the film being relatively short, meaning there was room for an extension of these scenes.

Continuing from my previous statement, Michael B. Jordan's directorial debut was well executed, despite appearing too ambitious at points, most evident during fight scenes. The initial fight against Ricky Conlan was my favourite of the film. Michael B. Jordan's directorial style was well suited, and provided a new, refreshing insight into Adonis' own perspective during the fight, illustrating how he notices a repeated vulnerability from Conlan which he later capitalises on. The final fight, however, oversaturated this directing style, resulting in a somewhat disorientating, constricted view of the fight. Despite this, I did appreciate the artistic direction from Michael B. Jordan when portraying the fighters tunnel vision in the ring, depicting each fighters own motivation, especially with Damian where he appears to be boxing Adonis into the jail cell in which he spent the past 18 years. This visualisation was well curated, however, as this contributed to a large portion of the fight, it came across as though the film was detracting from the sport itself.

This film was also my first time seeing Jonathan Majors to which I was pleasantly surprised. Damian Anderson is an extremely well written character whom Majors perfectly embodies. In Damian's initial introduction to the film, Majors is able to elicit seemingly unwanted empathy from the audience due to his time in prison. Damian is a character carefully depicted as strong willed, with an unwavering determination to fulfil his lifelong dream that was stolen from him so many years ago. Being older than than the retired Adonis only contributes to this image, fuelling Damian's desperation for immediate success as he yearns to salvage any time he has left to fight. The powerful scene of Damian returning to his motel from the gym and continuing to train reflects Damian's attitude towards boxing as something that consumes his thoughts. The repeated theme of Damian's determination ultimately accumulates to him manipulating Adonis, forcefully positioning himself to be a contender for the heavy weight title, which he is able to gain through a combination of luck and 'ingenuous' rule breaking. The final fight of the film, Creed VS Anderson, epitomises Damian's character. During the walk-out, his swag and demeanour taunts Adonis as he dances around the ring, emphasising his enjoyment of finally being able to flaunt his success. Damian's unorthodox, rebel fighting style previously shown is again highlighted especially during his defence of Creed's unrelenting abuse of punches which finally causes him to fall and Creed's victory by KO. Damian's character arc then comes to a satisfying end as he is humbled in defeat, showing forgiveness and even appreciation towards Adonis. Overall, Jonathan Majors portrayal of this character is superb to watch on-screen and he is someone I will definitely be looking out for in the future.

Looking at the rest of my blog this film must appear terrible as I'm pretty sure this is the first time I have actually critiqued a film. However, this is not the case, despite the film underperforming in some areas overall it is a very enjoyable watch which caused two hours to swiftly pass by. One aspect I have not yet mentioned, though will quickly now, was the soundtrack of the film. The main theme was 'The Watcher' by Dr. Dre which was at one point blissfully remixed by J. Cole. The music for me was very well selected and ran seamlessly alongside the film.  Putting an end to this review, I would recommend this film, although perhaps with some light-hearted downplay of expectations as the previous films in the series reign superior.

Movie Rating: 6.5/10