Creed III Movie Review: Michael B. Jordan is back in the ring

This is a thrilling addition to the Rocky series. A sequel to 2018’s Creed II, and the ninth installment to the series, Creed III is the first movie not to feature Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa. The movie features a star-studded cast including Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Wood Harris, Florian Munteanu, and Phylicia Rashad. Interestingly, this is the first film in the Rocky/Creed series that excludes Rocky from the cast.

Sypnosis:

Former boxing champion, Adonis ‘Donnie’ Creed’s (Michael B. Jordan) peaceful domesticated life takes a sudden jolt when his childhood friend Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors) shows up after 18 years.

Creed III Review:

I’ve been a huge Rocky/Creed fan for years now and I’ve been dying to see this one. Michael B. Jordan in the director’s seat with Jonathan Majors as the antagonist sounded like a dream. And after seeing the film, it did not disappoint. Michael B. Jordan absolutely crushes it as the director. There are so many clear visual choices that he makes that make this movie pop. It’s an incredibly ambitious debut that really excited me for what’s next in his career. His fight sequences are stellar, they put you into these fights in a way that this franchise hasn’t made me feel in a while. Majors is a beast in this film. He’s seriously one of the greatest new talents we have. It’s a villain who we almost side with, and I think that’s largely due to what Majors has to bring to the table. Plus, he’s menacing as hell, I can’t imagine him losing any fight. Structurally, this movie is solid.

In his directorial decision, Jordan decides to make the first half a lot too crisper than it should have been. It is kind of a ‘back to roots’ origin story that deserved a bit more marination. It’s not as top-notch as the first, it takes a moment to find its ground juggling his family, his retirement, his past, and his future but once it’s all tied up together, the movie soars. Some of the dialogue was clunky at first, it definitely lost the precision in reality that Coogler had on this franchise, but Michael B definitely keeps his hand on the pulse with this one. And let’s not forget, he also stars in the film with grace. He’s such a superstar in this and is not lost in the shuffle. There’s a lot going on in this film, but when it all comes together, it works nicely. The end fight and last act are really strong and the buildup to getting there is remarkably intense, I had a blast with this one. They could make 100 more and I’d be ok with it. Can’t wait to see what EVERYONE involved does next.