Luke McWilliams gives his review of the 2023 sports drama film, Creed III, starring Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson.

In 2002, a young Adonis Creed sneaks out with his boxing prodigy best friend, Damian ‘Diamond Dame’ Anderson, to watch Dame compete in an underground boxing match. After getting into a violent scuffle at a bottle shop, we flash forward to a retired Creed (Michael B. Jordan) who is living the good life with his wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and young daughter, while running a gym specialising in setting up a world-class contender. Soon, however, Dame (Jonathan Majors) arrives at Creed’s gym fresh out of a long stint in prison.

The original Oscar-winning Rocky (1976) set the template for the franchise going forward, let alone the all-around American sporting film. While each entry added to Rocky’s mythology in terms of his character-defining challenges, they also laid down the tropes in which the series was to operate. The Creed franchise serves as a sequel series and also a remake of the original series, paying homage to what came before while also carving out a fresh perspective for a modern audience.

Rocky’s absence allows Michael B. Jordan to finally take centre stage in his directorial debut. Up-and-coming Jonathan Majors brings a chilling, dead-eyed antagonist, a skeleton from Creed’s past that had the potential to delve deeper into Creed’s psychology and motivations to fight in the first place.

Verdict: A strong debut that shirks away from the darker possibilities, preferring to follow the established template once the conflict is clear. 3.5 stars.

Luke McWilliams, themovieclub.net.