I have to admit that I haven’t seen a boxing movie since Sylvester Stallone was the main character at the start of his Rocky Balboa portrayal.
But, the basic story seems to remain the same – it’s just two dudes duking it out in a ring instead of getting therapy to handle their issues.
Though, had they gotten therapy, we wouldn’t have a movie to watch, so take that for whatever it’s worth.
Now, despite that insight, “Creed III” has finally stepped out of Stallone’s shadow and forges a decent spin-off flick.
The cinematography is fairly standard until audiences get to the main fight – that’s where Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut really shines and the creativity is refreshing.
Creed III is a sports drama film directed by and starring Jordan from a screenplay by Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin.
It is the sequel to Creed II (2018), the third in the Creed series, and the overall ninth in the Rocky film series.
It also stars Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Wood Harris, Florian Munteanu, Thaddeus Mixson, Spence Moore, Tony Bellew, Mila Davis-Kent, Jose Benavidez, Selenis Leyva, Florian Munteanu, and Phylicia Rashad.
The film is 116 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for intense sports action, violence, and some strong language.
In 2002 Los Angeles, a young Adonis “Donnie” Creed (Mixson) sneaks out with his best friend, Golden Gloves champion Damian “Diamond Dame” Anderson (Moore), to watch Dame compete in an underground boxing match.
After Dame’s victory, he tells Donnie about his aspirations to turn professional and become a world champion boxer – including fighting in the Olympics.
During a detour at a liquor store, Donnie impulsively attacks a man named Leon.
In 2017, Donnie (Jordan) fights and wins in a rematch against “Pretty” Ricky Conlan (Bellew), who just got released from his prison sentence and worked his way back to be a contender for a championship fight.
He retires from boxing to focus on his wife Bianca (Thompson) and their daughter Amara (Kent).
Three years later, Donnie runs Delphi Boxing Academy with his coach Tony “Little Duke” Evers Jr. (Harris), and is promoting his protégé - world champion Felix “El Guerrero” Chavez (Benavidez), in a match against Viktor Drago (Munteanu).
Due to her hearing problems, Bianca forgoes performing her own music to preserve what hearing she has left and becomes a successful producer.
The two keep watch over the declining health of Donnie’s adoptive mother Mary Anne (Rashad) and young Amara aspires to be a boxer like her father, which gets her into trouble in school when she punches a bully.
Dame (Majors) is released from prison 18 years later and reconnects with Donnie, with whom he shares his desire to continue his boxing career.
Donnie reluctantly invites Dame to the gym to spar with Chavez, however, his aggressive style draws scorn from Chavez and Duke.
Dame later visits Donnie’s home, where he meets his family, and drops hints about their time together at a group home, which Bianca has never heard of before then.
Privately, Dame expresses his desire for a title shot against Chavez, citing Donnie’s previous one-in-a-million shot, which Donnie tells him is impossible to make happen.
But, as always, Dame doesn’t take no for an answer and you just know whatever he plans to do is going to be bad news for everyone involved.
Overall, if you’re a fan of the series, you’ll probably enjoy this flick.
However, if you’re on the fence, I’d just wait for it to come to streaming services or Redbox.
