The last two times we got to a ninth entry in a franchise was Justin Lin’s F9 (2021) and Disney’s Rise of Skywalker (2019). The most noted points about these entries were how exhausted, boring, bloated, and emotionally wrung dry they were. Unlike the Fast Saga and Star Wars franchise, MGM’S Rocky and Creed franchise has made few mistakes; if any at all. The longstanding goodwill of the franchise was built off the back of Sylvester Stallone’s penmanship and eventual direction for most of the entries. CREED III is an echo of that development that started when Stallone directed Rocky II with Michael B. Jordan making his directorial debut here. His talent should come as no surprise having shared a set with Stallone and the ironclad trailblazer of the Creed sub-franchise, Ryan Coogler. Although CREED III has a fair share of troubles compared to the confidently taut previous entries that stand amongst the franchise’s best, this harrowing ninth entry is another astonishing contender unlike the aforementioned pretenders.
CREED (2015) and CREED II (2018) had lofty expectations and needed to meet weight to stand alongside the often-forgotten strengths of the Rocky franchise. What transpired was a development of character through the narrative’s ability to seamlessly integrate the lingering shadows of the past. Not in a way that “passed the torch” as so many franchises have tried to do, but by continuing to develop the world and characters in a direction that would serve it as a natural progression. Where other franchises misunderstand this is in how they fear letting the past reappear as weathered, virtually obsolete beings of yesteryear. Coogler and Stallone let Rocky, Ivan Drago, and Apollo’s legacy reemerge as battered, beaten, withered threads to weave it around Adonis’ growth in building a legacy beside his father’s shadow rather than underneath it. Each entry has escalated these levels of Adonis through new avenues of challenges and obstacles that come in the physical form of the past, and CREED III is perhaps the most challenging that Adonis has had to circumvent.
Jonathan Majors has been on most radars since 2019’s The Last Black Man in San Francisco. The showcase he put forth in Black vulnerability in a gentrified San Francisco is the foundation of the great career he’s had since. Here, he puts on enough muscle mass to make you look at your popcorn and soda with a nasty look. Much like Apollo’s legacy and Ivan’s son, Viktor, he becomes the physical conduit that connects the present to the past that’ll rattle Adonis’ journey. As we’ve seen him do before, Majors holds back and invites the viewer into his character’s world. It’s pursed lips, narrowed eyes, mischievous smirks, and his enclave of emotional turmoil that defines this broiling anguish he brings to every scene. No franchise caters to that all-natural talent more than this one. That type of personalized dilemma we’ve seen in Rocky, Apollo, Ivan, and various heels and heroes continues through Damien, Bianca, and Adonis here.
Additional credit should be given to Jordan for shooting the right coverage and landing on the proper take. This feature debut won’t land alongside Michael Mann’s, Thief (1981), or George Romero’s, Night of the Living Dead (1968), but the level of craftsmanship is undeniable. Jordan sold this movie on the back of being inspired by anime for the climactic title fight, and he delivers as promised, but it’s the attention to patience that earns him high marks. He holds on the emotion. He lets his actors live through these moments that don’t hide their talent. Sometimes, he’s a little too efficient in the editing bay, as it could have used another 10-15 minutes, but the potential is sky high. Although Coogler has been steeped in this franchise, they’ve crossed paths before, and you can see that Coogler invited Jordan into his bag of tricks. It creates this piece that is simultaneously embracing the roots of the franchise and giving it enough of a visual flair that can only be attributed to Michael B. Jordan. Some would say the franchise has become visually inconsistent, but it services the growth into individuality enough to make it a worthwhile component to the world they’re continuing to build.
Where CREED III stumbles a bit is the script written by Zach Baylin of King Richard (2021) acclaim, and Ryan and Keelan Coogler. It isn’t poor, but it has blemishes of narrative disruption that restricts the pace. For a two-hour movie, it feels long (some of that might be attributed to the number of trailers and commercials that precede the film), and some of those blemishes feel as if they weren’t fully developed ideas. In some ways you can feel that it’s efficient, but it comes at the cost of broadening the picture in a fulfilling way. The franchise has moved on from Rocky for good reason, but the fact that there is no inclusion of him in any capacity is a staggering choice. Especially when the film traverses the most emotional canals of Adonis’ early retirement. Perhaps it’s a choice to centralize the family dynamic and make it a more internal journey for the Creed family, but for how prominent he was, to avoid him entirely feels like an uncharacteristic disservice. The same can be said for some of the choices it makes in amplifying the stakes between Damien and Adonis. It often feels too easy and convenient for the story to try and get to that climactic fight.
With that being said, a ninth entry in a franchise that has spanned nearly fifty years has no business being this entertaining - let alone - this good. There is a genuine sense of emotional stakes permeating through every performance and radiating off the identity of Jordan’s directorial debut. Although the script could have used some tools to tighten some of the nuts and bolts of the narrative, it manages to be entertaining, exciting, and emotionally nurtured. This is one of the last franchises standing that has continued to play to its strengths without ever getting lost in being what was and walking into what is. It feels like a worthwhile conclusion if they were to cap it here, but when something is this hot - with no signs of slowing down - stepping back into the ring might be worth it all over again.