Creed III
Metro-Goldwyn-MayerWith the Rocky franchise now at its ninth installment with Creed III, audiences should know what to expect. A larger-than-life antagonist shows up for the heavyweight champion of the world title, which puts the titular character to a moral test. That’s what happened in Rocky III when Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) fought against Clubber Lang (Mr. T), who wanted the title so bad he had to haunt Rocky out of retirement for “one last match”, of course, that wasn’t true, since Rocky IV and Balboa saw the Italian Stallion get back in the ring for “one last match.” In many ways, Creed III is the Rocky III of the Creed franchise, having Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) battle a larger-than-life antagonist, Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors) after he makes it personal.
Like Sylvester Stallone who helmed three Rocky installments, Michael B. Jordan also directs. And like any Rocky film, the script is terribly familiar. It is, in many ways, a rehash of Rocky III. The plot re-treads the same beats, while changing a few elements that would make it seem fresh for viewers who have not seen Rocky III. But it’s also a visual spectacle and contains the best boxing sequences ever crafted. No hyperbole: Jordan takes boxing to a level that not even Stallone could’ve done.
Inspired by anime like Hajime No Ippo, Dragonball Z and Naruto Shippuden, Jordan and cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau give boxing sequences a new life, and verve that has never been reached in any boxing film ever made. Again, this is not hyperbole – it’s so fresh and intricately choreographed that not even the most skillful boxing filmmakers could’ve ever come up with something so electric. The final fight between Adonis and Anderson is Naruto versus Sasuke, until it becomes Kakashi versus Obito from Naruto Shippuden. For anime fans, this isn’t new. But for boxing movies, this is new ground.
These scenes are magnificently captured with IMAX cameras, which add tremendous color to a series that has never used the visual medium to its fullest potential. As much as the Rocky franchise has evolved over the years, there isn’t a single memorable fight sequence that Sylvester Stallone captured in Rocky II, III, and IV. All of these films are great, but do they take full advantage of cinema as a visual medium? The slow-mo finale of Rocky II was thrilling, sure, but did it feel as ultra-cinematic as when Adonis’ eyes zoom in on different parts of the body to hit them effectively? Or when Damian grazes an opponent, and the camera effectively slows down to show how hard it actually cut his face? All of it is plucked from anime’s greatest hits, no pun intended, and it’s impressively transposed in live-action form. It’s a type of filmmaking that is rarely seen nowadays, especially when capturing a sport.
How do you make a sport cinematic? Creed III shows the blueprint – shoot it in IMAX and watch anime. It goes a long way in making the film’s three core fight scenes as exciting as possible, and each hit a potential fatality for any character. The final moments of the climax are the most effective, where the emotional tension between the two characters is at its highest and their rivalry has reached a point of no return.
All of this emotional tension wouldn’t have worked if the performances weren’t good, but Jordan directs himself and Jonathan Majors through exceptional heights. Majors plays the best villain in the Rocky franchise. He’s not the next Clubber Lang—he’s far more richly written and ten times more menacing than Clubber Lang will ever be. Anderson has had a history with Creed before he went to prison for almost twenty years. When he returns, all he wanted was to exact revenge on the person that pushed him away.
Unsurprisingly, Majors magnifies the screen in ways that he previously didn’t explore with Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. His demeanor is less brutish, but far more menacing when he gets into Adonis’ head and starts to corrupt it from the inside out. Real villains make audiences not only feel contempt for the character, but also a deep understanding of where the hate stems from. Majors continues to prove why he’s one of the greatest actors working today, and if he keeps the streak up, it won’t be long before he wins an Oscar. His talent and versatility are unmatched. No current actors can do what Majors is doing, even if some desperately try. He’s that good. Tessa Thompson also brings on great vulnerability as Bianca, but she seems far more underused than in Creed and Creed II. A subplot involving Adonis bonding with his daughter, Amara (Mila-Davis Kent), is good intentioned, but not developed enough to reach its full potential.
Yes, Creed III has a very predictable script. Yes, it’s a re-hash of Rocky III. But when the technical craft is this strong and the emotions run so high with terrific performances from Jordan and Majors, most of the flaws disappear and only become minor nitpicks. Creed III is a staggering piece of bravura filmmaking that stands tall as one of the best directorial debuts made by an actor in recent memory. Jordan’s direction is so crystal-clear, from the moment the film begins to its thrilling climax, that audiences are left wanting more from him as a filmmaker, and more from Majors’ very promising career.