3.5 stars out of 5
Are all the movies trying to make me feel old? Adonis Creed is Rocky’s young protégé, and now he’s retired too? Sheesh! We’ve now reached the Rocky III period in the life of Creed, where after his latest title defense, the wealthy, famous, happy-at-home champ hangs up his boxing gloves. But just when he thought he out, they pull Creed back in — to face an imposing challenger from the streets, Clubber Lang… uh… [checks notes] Diamond Dame Anderson.
Creed and Creed II both hovered in the very good/pretty good range, and the latest installment is no exception. In the first movie, we learned that young Adonis had been in a Los Angeles youth home, and that angle is revisited here. His buddy Dame was supposed to be the boxing phenom but ends up behind bars instead. (Was happy to see Spence Moore II, Dan on one of my fave recent shows A.P. Bio, playing teenage Dame in flashbacks.)
Flash-forward to the present, Dame is back in society and wants his long-delayed shot at the championship belt. (Jonathan Majors is much more intimidating as Diamond Dame than he was as Kang the Conqueror, and in a wild twist, Majors is an American actor, not British!) Creed feels guilty about how things went down back in the day so he helps out his childhood pal.
As in any series, it’s a comfort to see our old friends, and here we have Tessa Thompson back as Mrs. Creed, Phylicia Rashad as Mama Creed, The Wire’s Avon Barksdale as Creed’s trainer, and even Viktor Drago returns. Notably absent: no Michael Buffer as the ring announcer, and, no Rocky Balboa. Stallone is a producer on the film, and the character’s presence still hangs over the film, down to a Bill Conti musical cue.
Michael B. Jordan is again solid as Adonis Creed, and also sits in the director’s chair for the first time. (Not that it’s a competition, but Sly was directing by Rocky II.) Jordan does an adequate job behind the camera, even attempting an extended artful sequence. It’s not entirely successful, but I appreciate the effort. (An even less successful moment has Creed and Dame on opposite sides of a wall.)
I also appreciated that the movie wasn’t afraid to have several slower, thoughtful sections. A few people even walked out of the packed theater I was in; their loss! The screenplay deals with the specter of childhood trauma, the risk of bottling up memories and emotions, challenges of parenthood, and ever-present guilt without getting too heavy-handed. Without Ryan Coogler or Stallone as screenwriters this time around, it falls upon Ryan’s kid brother Keenan Coogler to co-write. Again, it’s mostly successful — I’d say this is just a notch below the first two Creed films. And I must admit, there was a key moment when I was really hoping Rocky would show up. I was craving that little extra excitement.
Of course it all leads up to the big fight, and of course I was cheering. As long as they keep making these movies, I’ll keep seeing them. (OK, please don’t tell Sly I skipped that last Rambo.)
Jack Silbert, curator