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Having made a critical and commercial success of the Creed franchise, which takes forward the Rocky films, Michael B Jordan makes a debut as a director with Creed III. And what a generous debut it is, with Jordan a spectator for most part as Majors, carrying that tangible air of menace around him, delivers the punches.
It’s some years since Adonis Creed (Michael B Jordan) announced his retirement after winning the heavyweight boxing title. And he seems to be enjoying the off time, including the trappings of success, dropping occasionally at the gym where the Duke (Wood Harris) is still training Creed Athletics’s finds, and spending much of his time with wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and daughter (Mila Davis-Kent), who has a hearing disability.
This world gets a sudden reality check when Damian (Jonathan Majors) appears one day, and Creed discovers him leaning much too insolently against his luxury car. Damian, who has spent 18 years behind bars, and Creed have a past, which Creed has done much to leave behind, but obviously hasn’t. And as Damian, who struggles to conceal his resentment at Creed’s success while also ingratiating himself with Bianca, moves in, can Creed leave that past behind?
That is the crux of Creed III, a more complex film than the usual sporting bout, which wrestles with the idea as much of loss as of success. Has the world which Creed now inhabits made him too “soft”, is fighting the only answer to a problem, and could Creed the boxer have come out of anywhere but the tough world he and Damian grew up in?
That said, there are no surprises about how Creed III progresses, and you can predict that, like in every sports film, all conflicts will eventually be settled in the ring. Sometimes, there is much too much in Creed III, with Creed’s daughter showing an interest in fighting, Bianca’s own disappointments regarding her singing career due to her partial loss of hearing, and their house too calling attention to itself with the sheer grandeur of it.
The parallel track of Bianca is an interesting one, but serves only as a filler. The daughter’s interest in boxing, coupled with her disability, is another side-track offering infinite possibilities – and maybe a sequel?
However, Creed III’s strength is its two main characters, Creed and Damian, two boys who could have been the same and now are two men could not be more different. If the charming Jordan with his unmistakable star quality is the hero the world wants to see and love, Majors is the stuff of our darker pasts, knocking at our conscience, and the actor — who is currently on screens also in the latest Antman — makes no effort to spare us the unease.
Creed III would have gained from more of the two on sceen.
Creed 3 movie cast: Michael B Jordan, Jonathan Majors, Tessa Thompson, Mila Davis-Kent, Wood Harris
Creed 3 movie director: Michael B Jordan
Creed 3 movie rating: 2.5 stars
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