Creed III similar to Rocky III

4 out of 5 stars

Creed III marks the directorial debut of its star, Michael B. Jordan. Jordan plays Adonis Creed, son of the legendary Apollo Creed. This movie marks the first time Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) does not appear in this mega-franchise which now include six Rocky movies and three Creed movies.

Every time I think the series has run its course and has nowhere else to go, the writers come up with a cool twist. The exception being Rocky V with Tommy "Gun" Morrison. Otherwise, all the other movies are very rewatchable.

Creed III kept my interest with the amazing soundtrack, great acting from Jonathan Majors and Phylicia Rashad, tremendous cinematography, and, yes, excellent direction. The plot was confusing and downright unrealistic in spots, keeping it from being a perfect film.

The plot circles back to Creed’s youth and his relationship with a friend he idolized as a big brother, Damian Anderson. Dame is a highly touted young boxer who has a bright future. The young Creed is happy to be Diamond Dame’s corner man, scout, and trainer.

Dame’s career comes to a halt when he waves a gun at a couple of men at a convenience store to protect Creed. Creed escapes by running away from the authorities and not getting caught. Dame is sent away to jail for 18 years while Creed goes on to have the successful boxing career Dame was supposed to have.

Fast forward to present day and Creed fights one last fight in Africa and hangs up his gloves. But you know he ain’t hanging them up for good. Creed becomes a promoter and trainer. He can be seen, wearing expensive suits, at his gym training new fighters.

Enter Diamond Dame again. Dame confronts Creed in the parking lot after being released from prison. Dame tells Creed he has been staying in shape and hasn’t given up on his dream. He wants a title fight and he needs Creed to help him get it. Creed feels obligated to help him. It’s the least he can do.

Dame gets a crack at the title when the challenger, Drago, gets injured just prior to the bout and the unproven champion is desperate for a last second opponent. You can guess who wins.

The victory goes to Dame’s head. He is where he always thought he belonged - heavyweight champion of the world. He hasn’t forgotten how Creed deserted him though. Unbeknownst to Creed, his mother, played by the great Phylicia Rashad, had been hiding the letters Dame sent to Creed all those years.

This is where the plot gets confusing for me. Rashad shows Creed a picture of Dame in jail shaking hands with… ? After researching it after, it turns out the guy in the picture with Dame is the one who injured the challenger's, Drago’s, hand at a party forcing him to drop out of the championship fight and leaving the door open for Damian. Creed felt used and confronted Damian at an outside party. Damian winds up punching Creed and Creed walks away, just like he did 18 years earlier.

Creed feels the only way he can “communicate” with Damian is in the ring. He comes out of retirement, with little resistance from his wife.

The star of the movie in my eyes is Jonathan Majors, who plays Damian. We first meet him from behind as he walks off a bus with his head and face covered up by his hood. He immediately comes across as menacing. It is one of many great cinematographic moments.

Majors is compelling with his subtle “Who me?” facial expressions. He is able to emote dialogue without speaking. Majors steals every scene he is in.

The chemistry between Jordan and his on-screen wife, Tessa Thompson, is flawless. Another scene stealer is their deaf daughter, Amara, played by Mila Davis-Kent. Again, the chemistry between her and Jordan is adorable. It is refreshing to see the amount of sign language that is integrated into the dialogue of the movie.

Phylicia Rashad isn’t on screen much, but her scene where she reveals the letters she has been hiding from Creed is the pivotal scene of the movie. The climactic scene of the movie doesn’t happen without the power of this scene, and Rashad knocks it out of the park.

The hard to believe part is that Damian would ever be given a title shot with no professional fights under his belt. A friend of mine also pointed out what are the odds that two kids from the same group home from the same city would go on to be the two best heavyweight boxers on the planet? Excellent point.

The music also plays a key role in the film. It is almost as if the music is another character in the movie. Dr. Dre kicks it off in the beginning when young Adonis and Damian are driving to the fight. It also is significant in the entrance music to the boxers when they enter the ring at the end. The music is a far cry from Frank Stallone or Survivor.

The cinematography again in the climactic fight is tremendous as the two fighters are shown fighting in an empty Dodgers Stadium. In reality, the stadium is sold out but the scene shows that this fight is just between the two of them.

Another great cinematographic moment is when both boxers are sitting in their corners between rounds. The shot then goes to the younger versions of the boxers sitting in their corners. Genius.

It was also refreshing to see Creed being trained at points by a woman. Along with the sign language dialogue, a lot of these little things really moved the needle on this franchise into the 21st century.

The film reminded me a lot of Rocky III (1982). At this point, Rocky is living the high life, complete with robots and the newest gadgetries. Into his life comes badass Mr. T. Damian and T could have been father and son. They are both fighting machines who are as tough as they come.

Meanwhile, Rocky finds out that his opponents were all cherry picked by Mickey, his manager and trainer. Mickey was protecting him by dodging the most dangerous opponents. At one point in Creed III, Creed is criticized for fighting past-their-prime fighters. Creed is shown living in his lavish house, with the huge pool, high up on the hill. Creed is criticized for being soft, and has to prove that he can be a street fighter in order to defeat Damian.

So what if we have seen this story before? This film could almost be viewed as a modern day remake of Rocky III, but that is okay. Rocky III was over 40 years ago and there are whole generations who are not familiar with the movie.

Much the same way Rocky III made Mr. T a household name, Creed III may well do the same for Jonathan Majors.