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Creed III (2023)

 


Creed III is the third installment in the ever growing Rocky/Creed franchise. This time Creed is having to come to terms with his past.

Directed and staring Michael B. Jordan, the film delivers on the direction as there are great and purposeful shots that perhaps only certain viewers would notice the connective tissue Jordan was trying to go for. I imagine typically a lot of older critics haven't seen many anime movies or TV shows that have influenced Jordan in his directorial style and influence. In terms of acting this time around he's good. There wasn't many scenes developed for a stellar main character performance though. That wasn't the purpose of the film though. I wasn't expecting another Fruitvale Station.

Johnathan Majors plays the villain in this and because of how close this film comes out to Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where he also plays a villain, the comparisons will be made regardless. He plays a better villain in Ant-man but Creed III is a better film. Here Majors feels off for the first half of the film but his ending satisfies. 

Tessa Thompson plays Creed's wife and due to some good writing by Ryan & Keenan Coogler (Creed I and II) she shines better than in Creed II. This is one of the few recent movies to come out where the wife doesn't emasculate the husband. She supports him in a caring and traditional way. It's great to see well written characters.

There also needs to be a comparison made to Black Panther since the writers were the directors in the film, but since they are such different films it's hard to say which one is better. Creed III his Jordan's first shot as director but the cultural impact Black Panther had cannot be more noted. 

I'm a sucker for Rocky IV and will always put it at the top when comparing this franchise. Creed III is in my top four for that too. Only surpassed by the original Rocky and original Creed. After three days of thinking I'm landing on this film being a B+.

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