Creed III- Movie Review

Creed III, which is the third installment of the Creed saga, and is the continuation of the epic boxing series in the Rocky universe of cinematic pictures.

I must warn you before continuing further that it may contain spoilers to the movie if you have not seen the movie, and I advise you to stop reading now.

With that being said, Sylvester Stallone is reportedly not in the film due to an ongoing feud with the long-time series producer (Irvin Wrinkler). This is Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut, and so far, it has earned over 100 million dollars worldwide, with 58.8 million domestic earnings. This is the largest opening for the Creed saga and also the Rocky series as well. That’s something to be celebrated. While the studios MGM, and Amazon get all the credit for the earnings, it can largely be attributed to the box office, tv series, and rising critically acclaimed sex symbol Johnathan Majors. They’ll claim that it’s the cross-promotion and demographic targeting, but it shows what happens when you embrace the truth about situations and not chase the coattails of the giant predecessor. Stallone said, “It was taken in a direction that is quite different than I would’ve taken it. It’s a different philosophy — Irwin Winkler’s and Michael B. Jordan’s. I wish them well, but I’m much more of a sentimentalist. I like my heroes getting beat up, but I just don’t want them going into that dark space. I just feel people have enough darkness.”

Assuming by now that you have seen the film, before the climax you come to grips with the reality of the situation. Majors’ character- Damien “Diamond” Anderson is caught up in an all too familiar tale of the inner-city situation and urban youth of being caught with a firearm. This is the summation of the first part of the Creed series with Adonis Creed being incarcerated as a youth, and being raised by his father’s wife because after his mother died as well and he was the child out of wedlock from Apollo. We finally get to see how the circumstances that led to incarceration. This is Majors’ fourth release this year and we’re only in March.

With Jordan at the helm, I can imagine that he has been feeling the scrutiny of his acting skills. Not that he’s not aesthetically pleasing on screen, but his acting isn’t believed to be the greatest. When he played Killmonger in one of the highest grossing films of all time, it was said that his acting wasn’t just believable as a tough guy. Creed I was more about his redemption for Rocky, Creed II was redemption for his father, and this film Creed III was redemption for Jordan the actor and Adonis the character. I believe it starts when Adonis leaves the gym and notices a person leaning on his Rolls Royce Cullinan, and instead of presenting himself as angry and hypermasculine it takes him a minute to even realize that he knows the estrange gentleman and that his past has really come back to haunt him because by the time we reach mid-film we realize that this is something that he has been struggling with internally since he got out of juvenile hall.

We see the death of Mary Anne Creed, Phylicia Rashad character, and to me it represents the end to a certain segment of actors and actresses in a certain segment to make room for new storylines to be introduced. We saw the death of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Iron Man, Queen Ramonda, and several others. This explains why Stallone’s and Wrinkler’s direction for the film differ, but the gamble paid off. Jordan’s dexterity is on full display. We get to see that “mother-son” relationship transition from “I’m trying to protect you” to “You’re an adult and I’m sorry what I did to you as a child but you have to see this for what it is.” Possibly making her the first black mother to apologize on film.

It comes with dividends because you get to see two African American males settle their differences and frustrations with the tools, they were endowed with in the same city that they were brought up in. You get to see underrepresented communities on the world stage. The ASL community showed the challenges of perception and the notion that people who don’t have the ability to hear somehow live different lives. We get to see the reality of Hispanic heavyweights in the sport of boxing, and how teams can work when people are all looking out for each other’s best interest. This is a family film that ends on a family note. It is reported that Creed IV is happening. I can’t wait to see what’s in the next installment.

Featured Image: Michael B. Jordan (Photo credit Carol Lee Rose/FilmMagic/Getty Images)

SHARE ON FACEBOOK SHARE ON TWITTER

Tags: Creed III, MICHAEL B. JORDAN, Movie Review