Creed III, the third installment in the Creed franchise, made its way to theaters on March 3, marking Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut.
The Rocky spin-off series started in 2015, developing a somewhat unexpected storyline about Apollo Creed, one of the most popular characters in the Rocky film series. The first Creed movie revealed Apollo Creed’s affair resulting in his third child, Adonis Johnson Creed, played by Michael B. Jordan. Creed III was far more entertaining than Creed, since Creed primarily focused on Adonis’s journey to becoming a boxer. Creed III also touched on Adonis’s past and showed the audience his childhood in order to personalize him and discuss his future along with Damian Anderson’s future.
Damion and Adonis grew up together but were separated because of some unfortunate circumstances. Adonis moved on with his life, and when he and Damion reunited, Adonis felt like he owed something to him. While they once flourished with each other, neither could fully get that relationship back in Creed III. Hopefully, Damion and Adonis resolve their conflict entirely because I would love to see Damion from a less negative perspective.
I actually struggled to accept Damion’s role as the antagonist. Damion had many amazing personality traits. He occasionally came across as evil and spiteful, only because he felt abandoned and lonely. I could see several people relating to him on an emotional level. I loved the way the characters were portrayed in the movie. Usually, it’s easy to side with the protagonist because the antagonist is such a horrible person, but I couldn’t only support Adonis in this movie. Both Adonis and Damion made mistakes and could have treated the people around them better, but they both also went through a lot of trauma, which made it easier for me to forgive them.
Essentially the plot was outstanding, but another aspect that caused the movie to be so great was the soundtrack. J. Cole’s Dreamville Records produced Creed III’s soundtrack. I believe the soundtrack consisted of a balance between hype and calm music, and it successfully amplified the powerful and sometimes emotional scenes. My favorite songs were Anthem by Dreamville, Big Sean and EST Gee, Adonis Interlude by Dreamville and J. Cole, Heavy Is The Head by Dreamville and Baby Rose, and Blood and Sweat & Tears by Dreamville, Bas and Black Sheriff. I think they all greatly impacted the movie and added more emotion to the scenes they went with.
Creed III proved Jordan is a brilliant director and an even more remarkable actor. He did an incredible job conveying Adonis’s moral dilemma, especially during the boxing scene toward the end of the movie. In fact, every actor in Creed III amazed me. I definitely enjoyed Mila Davis-Kent, who played Amara Creed.
Amara Creed is the daughter of Adonis and his wife Bianca. Adonis met Bianca in Creed, eventually getting engaged and having Amara in Creed II. Unfortunately, Bianca suffered from gradual hearing loss and Amara was born completely deaf. Davis-Kent is actually deaf in real life, and I love how she and her character in Creed III represent the deaf community and their ability to accomplish anything a hearing person can. Amara became invested in fighting and I’m curious about her future role in the Creed franchise. I’m not sure if she will become a boxer, but many deaf people have done it, the first being Italian professional boxer Mario D’Agata.
Creed III included several surprises that made me more invested in the storyline. It’s a boxing movie, and you can’t predict everything that will happen, especially in the ring, but almost every scene had me in shock. The match and the preparation for the match excited me the most out of the entire movie. Creed III might just be my favorite Creed movie because of how good the fight was. Creed III is a 10 out of 10 movie, and I highly recommend watching it.
