Creed III (2023) Movie Review

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Creed III – Movie Review

Director: Michael B Jordan

Writer: Keenan Coogler, Zach Baylin (Screenplay)

Writer: Ryan Coogler (Story)

Cast

Michael B Jordan (Black Panther)
Tessa Thompson (Thor Love and Thunder)
Jonathan Majors (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania)
Wood Harris (Remember the Titans)
Phylicia Rashad (Tick Tick Boom!)

Plot: Adonis has been thriving in both his career and family life, but when a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy resurfaces, the face-off is more than just a fight.

Runtime: 1 Hour 56 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Creed III starts as Adonis (Jordan) has stepped away from the ring to promote the next generation of boxers. He has settled down if Bianca (Thompson) and their daughter Amara (David-Kent). Adonis prepares for his latest boxing match when his former best friend Damian Anderson (Majors) is released from prison.

Damian wants a chance at the world title after losing his chance before. He wants to use his former reputation and after an incident leading up to Adonis’ promoted fight sees Damian take the spot. This leads to Adonis needing to come out of retirement and defeat his former friend.

Verdict on Creed III

Characters

Adonis Creed has retired from the ring, he has stepped into promoting game developing for the next generation of talent. However, his former friend has returned to his life after serving time wanting a title shot. Adonis is left to wonder what to do before needing to step back into the ring to fight his former best friend.

Damian Anderson was an older friend of Adonis from their youth. He was a boxing prodigy who ended up in prison during a fight protecting Adonis. Now he is out, he wants a world title fight despite his age, he looks to make an impact in Adonis’ life. He isn’t like anybody Adonis has faced in the ring or anyone they have trained. Damian has raw power and doesn’t mind a few dirty tactics to get the win.

Bianca Creed has moved more into producing music to give her more time with their daughter. She is still trying to learn more about Adonis but otherwise doesn’t really get much to do. This is a disappointment because there is a minor scene about dealing with Amara defending herself. One that never seems to get followed up on.

The rest of the cast sees Duke clash with Adonis over his decisions. Mary-Anne Creed deals with her own medical problems and finally Amara the Creed’s deaf daughter who is the bright spark throughout the movie.

Performances

Michael B Jordan does step behind the camera to here and it seems to take some of his screen performance away. He is still great but never as intense as we have previously seen. However, Jonathan Majors walks in and steals the show as the dreamer is determined to get back the time he lost.

Tessa Thompson looks like her part got to cut back a lot more, which is disappointing. While Mila Davis-Kent does an excellent job as the youngest Creed member.

Story

The story gets to see Adonis meet an old friend who believes he has lived the life he was always meant to live. This sees Adonis needing to make difficult decisions before stepping out of retirement for a showdown.

The story does seem to do a mix of good and bad. On the good side, we see Adonis starting the next stage of his career, becoming a promoter. However, we don’t see to go into this enough, as he is the one making the big fight when other people would clearly be a better option. We get to learn more about Adonis’s past in the care system, which on paper is good, but we once again only get a small glimpse.

Elsewhere, we see a discussion about their child’s behaviour, which just ends up feeling like filler. The overall story seems to forget the bigger parts of the movie, leaving us with an empty space where the previous two movies created an emotional connection.

Inside the ring the action is fantastic, the hard-hitting fights show different styles and injuries being suffered. Sadly, certain make-up decisions show two men after a 12-round brawl have barely a bruise on them. However, one decision in the final fight is excellent and makes for a unique approach to the big fight.

Final Thoughts – Creed III is a solid third chapter into Adonis’s story but lacks the emotional impact the previous gave us.