Mar 16, 20235 min read

Film REVIEW: Creed III - ★★★★

Seconds out – round three!

With Donnie’s dream life interrupted by a face from his criminal past, Creed 3 combines hard-hitting boxing action with themes of guilt and payback. From the highlights of the Creed 3 trailer to the terrifying Jonathan Majors Creed 3 villain, here’s why you’ll want ringside seats.

Director: Michael B. Jordan

Writer: Keenan Coogler, Zach Baylin, Ryan Coogler

based on characters by Sylvester Stallone

Stars: Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Wood Harris, Florian Munteanu.

Genre: Drama, Sport

Themes: Sequel, Franchise, Creed the movie series

Adonis has been thriving in both his career and family life, but when a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy resurfaces, the face-off is more than just a fight.

It is the sequel to Creed II (2018), the third in the Creed series, and the ninth overall in the Rocky film series.

The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for Jordan's direction, Majors' performance, the themes, and fight sequences.

In Cinemas Now

MIX UP REVIEWS:

Daniel (Age 12) - ★★★★

"This was a great movie. It had a great cast and the fight at the end was amazing. Although I felt that it was a bit boring in the middle. My favourite character was Creed because I like Michael B Jordan. My favourite part of the film was the training montage.

Overall although a slow burner this was still a great boxing movie"

Have you seen it yet?

Creed 3 buzz - Why is everyone talking about the new Creed movie?

First came the Rocky saga, with Sylvester Stallone’s brawny boxer lacing his gloves in 1976 and slugging through six hit films. But by the time of 2006’s Rocky Balboa, sixty-year-old Sly was understandably tired of being pounded on like gourmet steak – and the Rocky franchise rang the bell.

Or so we thought. Next came action cinema’s most graceful generational gearshift, as 2015’s Creed saw Stallone’s character transition to the trainer role while Black Panther’s Michael B. Jordan played youth offender turned pugilist Adonis ‘Donnie’ Creed. In case you didn’t know, Donnie is the son of Rocky’s late buddy Apollo Creed, fatally pasted by Dolph Lundgren in 1985’s fourth instalment.

The two Creed spin-offs to date have been absolute dynamite, decorated with awards and punching their weight at the box office. But Creed III is the most tantalising of all, with Jordan making his directorial debut with a compelling tale of an old friendship turned toxic.

“This is the most challenging thing I’ve done in my career, by far," the actor told Total Film. “Whether it was working with all the departments to make sure they have what they need to go do their job, staying in shape, developing the story, or having my own process as an actor with Adonis. I was pushing myself to new limits daily."

Creed 3 plot - What will Creed 3 be about?

Everyone has an embarrassing old friend they just can’t shake off. Now imagine that friend is a terrifying jailbird, jacked from the prison gym, just freed from an eighteen-year stretch for armed robbery and seething with resentment that you stole their life and shot at the title.

That’s where Donnie finds himself in Creed 3. Now a semi-retired boxing legend, living the good life with his lady Bianca (Tessa Thompson - Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Ragnarok), the champ leaves his gym one sunny morning to find a hulking shadow leant against his car. The face in the hood is older but chillingly familiar. Welcome back Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors - Loki). The one-time boxing prodigy has been inside almost two decades, but still believes he has “gas in the tank”.

Donnie is a stand-up guy and invites his old friend to the gym. But alarm bells ring when Damian goes feral in a sparring session, and the ex-con soon reveals his true intentions: to strip away Donnie’s successes and destroy him in the ring.

“Facing your past and finding out who you really are – that’s something we address in this movie,” Jordan told Collider. “It’s a homecoming. Sometimes settling debts and being accountable for our actions is something that we wanted to look at.”

Creed 3 star - Who plays the lead in the new Creed movie?

Michael B. Jordan has grown into the role of Donnie since 2015 and gives us a rounded character in Creed 3. He’s not just a punching machine, but a husband, father and human being, desperate to protect his dream life but tortured by his role in Damian’s downfall.

As director of Creed 3, Jordan was able to plot the character’s course through the movie. “I finally got to a place in my career where I wanted to tell a story and not just be in front of the camera and not just execute somebody else’s vision,” he told Mama’s Geeky. “And having a character that I’ve played twice before, it’s been seven, eight years living with this guy.”

Creed 3 villain - How mean is Jonathan Majors in Creed 3?

From Mr T’s roughneck Clubber Lang to Dolph Lundgren’s sub-zero Soviet Ivan Drago, Rocky films always had great villains. Jonathan Majors in Creed 3 is the best yet. With a half-smile on his lips and eyes glistening like he’s holding back tears, it’s hard to decide whether the damaged Damian deserves our pity. Then he explodes – and it’s terrifying.

“I think he has an intensity and a realness of character we haven’t seen before,” Jordan told Empire of Jonathan Majors in Creed 3. “He’s a grounded character who’s antagonistic by nature, but it comes from an honest place, real emotions. He’s not a moustache-twirling villain. I wanted people to understand him, and to make it hard for people. I think those make for the most complicated and interesting ones to watch.”

Incidentally, it all bodes very well for Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, in which Majors also plays the villain, Kang The Conqueror.

Will Rocky be in Creed 3?

Stallone’s character won’t appear, but by this point, that’s OK. “We wouldn’t have Donnie without Rocky, and he will always be a pillar in Donnie’s life,” Jordan told Total Film, “but Creed III is really the dawn of a new era for the franchise and the character. It was important from a storytelling perspective to get to a pivotal point in Donnie’s career a few years down the line where he has really established himself with his professional career and his family."

Besides, if you want a bit of full-circle fan service, be reassured that real-life Romanian boxer Florian Munteanu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) will once again play Viktor ‘son of Ivan’ Drago.

Creed 3 trailer - What are the most exciting moments from the footage we've seen so far?

The Creed franchise was always as much a human drama as a sports-movie series, and Jordan says this third instalment will again put “family and heart” at the core. Thanks to Majors’ unsettling villain, there’s a malevolent energy running through the Creed 3 trailer, too, giving it the feel of a thriller verging on a psychological horror movie.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Rocky spin-off movie without a training montage, and in the Creed 3 trailer we see the two pugilists punching trees and pulling parachutes along the beach. “With the montage, it’s about, what are the stakes?” Jordan explained in Collider. “Has your character left the montage better than he was when he first started?”