This feels like an outline of some kind, but also a
new beginning – because it shows a franchise, and a character, finally walking
out of the long shadow of Rocky Balboa.
Protagonist and first-time director Michael B. Jordan
returns as boxer Adonis Creed, who’s at a good place in his life. Five years
after his last fight, he’s enjoying his retirement from boxing, living a luxury
life in Los Angeles with his wife, Bianca (Tessa Thompson), and their daughter,
Amara (Mila Davis-Kent), who’s 8-years-old and (as we saw in the previous film),
with a hearing impairment.
Bianca has retired from performing music, to save what’s
left of her hearing, and produces other people’s music in her home studio.
Creed watches over his gym, working with his ringside man, Duke (Wood Harris),
in managing Felix Chavez (Jose Benavidez), the heavyweight champ preparing to
defend his title – the one he got from Creed when he retired – with a fight
against Creed’s former opponent, Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu).
That’s when someone from Adonis’ past returns. Damian
Anderson (Jonathan Majors) was Adonis’ protector and “big brother” when the two
lived in the group home – before, we’re told, Adonis was brought to live with
his father’s wife, Mary-Anne (Phylicia Rashad). The movie starts with the time
when Adonis’ and Damian’s paths separated, when Adonis was 15 (Thaddeus J. Mixon),
and Damian (Spence Moore II) ended up going to prison for what eventually
became 18 years.
Damian wants what he lost when he went to prison: A
chance to be a boxer, like he was when he was in Golden Gloves. Adonis agrees
to let Damian train at his gym, and spar with Felix, against Duke’s advice.
Things move fast, and at a party for Bianca’s record label that get combined
with Adonis’ boxing scene, a fight breaks out that leaves Drago injured and
unable to fight. Rather than postpone, Adonis convinces Felix to let Damian
have a chance, an underdog going up against the champ. (It’s in this scene
where the movie, for the only time, mentions Rocky.)
Sean P. Means said in his review, “Adonis figures out,
a little too late, that there’s nothing coincidental about Damian’s arrival on
the scene.” Damian tells Adonis his plan: “I’m coming for it all.” By “all,” he’s
including Adonis’ life, which Damian thinks was taken from him when he went to
prison.
Means notes, “The script — by Keenan Coogler (who
worked on “Space Jam: A New Legacy”) and Zach Baylin (“King Richard”), who
share story credit with Ryan Coogler (Keenan’s brother, and the director of the
first “Creed”) — builds up to the inevitable showdown, with the aggressor
Damian prodding Adonis out of retirement. The buildup is worth it, as it gives
Jordan, Thompson and Rashad moments to dig into the pain and the joys of the
boxing life. Jordan’s transformation of the Creed character, from hotheaded
boxer in the first movie to the responsible adult here, is a delight to watch.”
From the other perspective, Majors shows – even more
so than he did in “Anti-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” as the villain who’s
being built up to dominate the MCU – how much power and intensity he has, both
physically and psychologically, as Damian. Means said, “This is a character who
has to get under Adonis’ skin, and Majors shows he can push all of his opponent’s
buttons.”
The outline of “Creed III,” true to the series’ traditions,
is in the ring. Means ended his review by crediting, “This is a character who
has to get under Adonis’ skin, and Majors shows he can push all of his
opponent’s buttons.”
Overall, even though this is not as good as the
previous two movies because it is predictable, seeing where the fight was going
to go after Damian injured Felix’s hand, and about Creed still being able to
make money after Duke telling him to leave the gym after the match, this is
still a good movie. All the family moments and scenes with Adonis and Damian
felt real. As always, the boxing matches were intense. I felt like I was
watching real boxing matches and it made you want to get up and box. See it on
Prime and have a great time enjoying this solid flick.
Thank you for joining in on tonight’s review. Stay
tuned Friday for the conclusion of “National Lampoon Month.”
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