After trading his gloves for suits, Adonis Creed (Michael B Jordan) is thriving in retirement with his wife, Bianca (Tessa Thompson), and daughter, Amara (Mila Davis-Kent). When his childhood friend Damian Thompson (Jonathan Majors) shows up after almost two decades in prison, Creed is forced to deal with memories and regrets he buried years ago. The third installment of the Creed trilogy, featuring Jordan as the director, was nothing less than a well-crafted sports drama. The film tackled significantly darker themes than previous films and trailed far away from the legacy built in the Rocky series starring Sylvester Stallone; however, it was an exhilarating watch with a story that tried to dive deeper than training and boxing. 

The film’s first half, especially after Damian shows up, is heavier on the drama. The life outside of Boxing for the Creeds is explored, and we see how retirement for Creed takes away his outlet when it comes to handling his inner demons.  Creed struggles to incorporate his friend into an empire he built. Bianca and Creed struggle as parents to a deaf daughter. Amara seems to be having trouble in school (which is not explored as much as it could have been). And Mary Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad), Adonis’ adoptive mother, suffers from a past stroke. The story is, unfortunately, not as tight as it could have been, but the writing was a little more adventurous than in previous films.

When Creed is able to give Damian a shot to fight, as Damian also dreams of being “the champ,” Adonis soon finds out that his friend no longer has his back. Damian proves to be a dirty fighter and even dirtier outside the rink. After Adonis loses his mother, he realizes that he has to face his past and his former brother. In the end, Damian and Adonis face off in a mega-boxing event (after a swoon-worthy training montage). In a slightly dreamlike fight sequence, the two battle as men and as boys who grew up in the same broken system. More importantly, after the epic event, the two have a heartbreaking moment in the locker room, forgiving one another and understanding that the cards they were dealt were neither’s fault. 

The film beautifully explores the concept of loss and how our lives do not always turn out exactly as we want. Creed lost time with his friend. Bianca is slowly losing her hearing and can no longer perform. Mary Anne loses the trust of Adonis (after she shows him the letters she kept from Adonis while Damian was in prison). Amara does not have her hearing. And most tragically, Damian has lost so much time while sitting in prison. He is easily one of the most complex opponents of any Rocky franchise film. The dark themes quickly take this movie far from the expectations of the previous Creed or Rocky films. 

The most notable difference that draws this film away from its predecessors is the obvious absence of Rocky Balboa himself. Although Stallone was a producer of the film, he chose not to appear in it as the film had a much darker tone that he disagreed with. It’s unfortunate that Adonis did not have his mentor during some of the toughest times of his life. The idea of not having Rocky left quite a hole in the story for me. However, one could also argue that Rocky really couldn’t help Adonis in this situation. This was about a young black man coming to terms with his past and regrets. Rocky has no experience in anything Adonis went through. Still, his absence made the third installment of the Creed trilogy feel even more disjointed. 

I was interested in seeing Jordan’s work as a director. Much to my surprise, the film had wonderful craft with beautiful fight scenes that toed the line between reality and surrealism. I was entertained the find out that his inspiration came from watching anime. It was, for a lack of a better term, a really cool way to get deep into the minds of the fighters on screen. The lighting changed, time slowed down, and both Creed and Damian stared right at us in (beautiful) extreme close-ups. Jordan’s use of flashbacks was well integrated into the story, and the pace was near perfect for me. As I said before, this film put the “drama” in the sports drama, but the balance was there, and I was entertained the whole time. I am excited to see Jordan return to the director’s chair in the future. 

Regarding a third installment, it is hard for me to decide if this was the best or the worst Creed film. The first two films closely connected Adonis’ story to Rocky’s. They were “boxing movies.” The third film took us far outside the rink into the past and, more importantly, into the minds of both Adonis and his component. Damian was more than a match. We understood his anger and erratic behavior. When he is first introduced, we see his insecurity and vulnerability as Majors delivers a convincing performance about a man trying to reconcile losing half of his life and dreams. Ultimately, he and Adonis must come to terms with the situation at hand. Seeing them in the locker room together after the final fight was so gut-wrenching that it possibly makes this film the best in the series. It’s really up to the individual to decide. Are you here to continue Rocky’s world or explore Creed’s? 


Shockingly, this is not expected to be the last Creed film. Jordan confirmed that he expects to expand the Creed-verse. Whether or not Stallone reprises his role as Rocky is unclear. It’s hard to imagine more films without him, and it’s even harder to imagine a fourth installment making sense after what the first films established. (I mean, the third film really acted like a final act by incorporating almost every character used in the first two Creed films.) I anxiously await more news on the Creed-verse, and I don’t expect it to follow the expectations built by the Rocky or Creed series. But until then, go watch Jordan and Majors battle it out.

Review Courtesy of Sara Ciplickas