I had the opportunity to see Creed 3 early thanks to my go-to theater having an early access screening. Because of that, I spent the last two days getting caught up with Creed 1 and 2, and I have come to the conclusion that Creed might be my favorite sports movie franchise of all time. I was excited as all hell for Creed 3 well before I started my Creed binge, going back to once I saw it was going to be Michael B. Jordan vs Jonathan Majors. I’ll get into these two later but saying my expectations were exceeded would be an understatement. Creed 3 follows Adonis Creed, who recently retired to focus on his family, as a key figure from his past reappears and forces him to fight for more than just his legacy.
As part three of the Creed trilogy, I am beyond satisfied with how Adonis Creed’s character arc wraps up. He started as loose cannon, abandoned by his family with nothing but rage and his father’s fighting mentality. We see him mature both physically and emotionally, as he becomes a world-champion boxer, a husband, and a father, and learns to process his thoughts and emotions without fighting. He goes from hating his father (so much so he goes by the last name Johnson for most of the first movie) to finding peace in how his father impacted his life and who he became. While boxing is obviously at the forefront of the franchise, the characterization of Adonis Creed has always been incredibly strong.
I’ll dive into the character more in a bit but first I need to gush about Majors. He’s entered my tier of actors who I will watch no matter what they’re in and how it’s perceived (currently it’s just him, Paul Rudd, and Andrew Garfield). This year alone he’s been the saving grace in what many are calling another Marvel flop in Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and has a movie coming out called Magazine Dreams which is already starting to get some buzz. I saw one magazine cover and one workout video from Men’s Health and already knew he’d be an absolute menace in this movie, which he was. Both Majors and Jordan got into incredible shape for this movie but my lord was Majors’ physique incredible.
Ok enough gush. Damian was one of Adonis’ oldest friends growing up from when he was in a group home. He was a good fighter back then but an incident caused him to be locked up for a long time while Adonis got to live out his dream of being a world-champion boxer. I don’t want to give away details as to what the incident was but it is a catalyst for the plot, as it is what motivates Damian to want to fight Adonis and what has been haunting Adonis all this time. Damian is an arrogant dick but incredibly understandable, which feels hard to pull off, but Majors finds the perfect balance here. The movie also gives him the time to establish his character: he’s not just some one-off antagonist for Adonis to fight and move on from. He’s an integral piece to the story and as such, we get to spend time with him to learn his personality and motivations.
The action in this franchise has been nothing short of a spectacle. The choreography has always made it feel like you were in the ring taking some of these punches. Creed 3 amplified that, adding in some more aesthetic, slow-mo shots, similar to Sherlock Holmes (2009). I had goosebumps watching Jordan and Majors going at it. Michael B. Jordan directed this film and I’d contribute the unique styles to his vision. With these movies come the training montages. I’d be lying to you if I said I was not ready to run through a brick wall. I was a big fan of the callback to Rocky, where Rocky ran through Philly and up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Adonis (an L.A. boy) runs up the trail to the Hollywood sign.
Two major themes stuck out to me above all when watching Creed 3: You can’t fight your feelings and you can’t run from the past. As I mentioned in a previous paragraph, Adonis has to learn how to process his emotions without fighting. In the first 2 movies, he had Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa to turn to and soak in his advice, but Rocky is not present anymore. (He’s still kicking but he wrapped up his arc in Creed 2). He’d go to Rocky, train for the big fight, and his personal issues would be resolved. His relationship with his wife Bianca (played by Tessa Thompson) had always felt somewhat shallow. Here Creed is finally able to open up and be vulnerable with her about his past and how it is affecting him. Thompson and Jordan have insanely good chemistry which helps us feel the emotional weight of what he is saying and feeling.
One area that could’ve supplemented this theme is with his daughter. There is an incident at her school where we learn that she is fighting with other students, which leads to some strong conversations between Adonis and Bianca about how they need to address how they deal with anger, through words or through fighting. This was an opportunity for the movie to give Adonis a purpose to try to become more emotionally intelligent but it didn’t take it.
Running from the past has been something that has haunted Adonis his whole life. He befriended Damian in a group home but they were separated after an incident where Damian was arrested and Adonis escaped. As an adult, Damian finds Adonis and brings back the pain of the past. Many times throughout the movie, people tell Adonis to stop running. Before this movie we’ve seen him running from his father so we can now see it is a part of who he is. It all culminates in the final fight. This is, in my opinion, one of the best fight scenes in the Rocky and Creed franchise. The middle third of the fight becomes this dream-like sequence where the crowd dissipates so it is just Adonis and Damian, as the ring becomes a cage. It’s a clear metaphor for Adonis not being able to escape and needing to confront what’s been haunting him. They take turns beating each other down, representing each side of their personal struggles until Adonis is finally able to conquer what’s been haunting him. Similar to Creed 2, Adonis doesn’t just beat his demons but makes peace with what brought them.
Final Thoughts
Creed 3 blew my expectations out of the water. Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors are studs, and they made this one of the most enjoyable movies in recent history.
