Directed by: Michael B. Jordan
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Jonathan Majors, Tessa Thompson, Mila Davis-Kent, Phylicia Rashad
Michael B, Jordan takes over the reins as director for the first time and hits his stride as the titular character. Creed and Creed II were not as successful because frankly Adonis Creed (Jordan) was the least intriguing person in those movies. In Creed III, Rocky Balboa has stepped aside and Jordan no longer stands in his shadow. The Adonis character is fleshed out and made into a hero we can root for, especially against the hulking monster in Damian "Dame" Anderson (Majors), Adonis' childhood friend just released from prison after eighteen years with a simmering envy of Adonis, whose life Dame feels he should have.
Every hero needs a great villain, and Creed III's Dame is a dangerous one whose motives we can understand. What is scary about Dame is not that he just has a chip on his shoulder, but he seems capable of ferocious violence at any given moment. When he first meets the now-retired Adonis outside of the boxing gym he owns, the two have lunch and catch up a bit, but there is an uneasiness about the meeting which permeates their relationship. Years ago, Dame was a Golden Gloves champion and on his way to glory until one night, Adonis confronts his former foster father who abused him. Dame intervenes with a gun, is arrested, and sent to prison. Adonis has felt guilt about that night ever since, believing he abandoned Dame is his time of need.
It becomes clear to Adonis and his wife Bianca (Thompson) that Adonis will have to make a comeback in the ring to fight Dame after Dame wins the heavyweight championship in a contrived (putting it mildly) scenario. We then are treated to the training montages which made the Rocky movies famous followed by a heavyweight championship fight at Dodger Stadium in front of a clearly CGI crowd which isn't all that well done. The best parts of Creed III aren't the boxing scenes but the ones which illustrate the conflict between Adonis and Dame that began many years ago and has come to define each on its own terms.
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