It's impressive how long certain franchises last. Who would have thought that a best picture winning film about a street smart but relatively naive boxer from Philadelphia would become one of the greatest movie franchises of all time? Certainly not Stallone if his comments regarding his unfair treatment and lack of control is to be believed.
Even so, the Rocky saga has been going strong well into it's fifth decade. The ongoing story of Rocky “The Italian Stallion” Balboa has gone through six films before dove tailing into a legacy / spin-off series Creed. The first Creed was an expertly told story of legacy, grief and redemption, helmed by an on-the-rise Ryan Coogler that reminded us that Stallone is an acting titan. The second film, Creed II, suffered somewhat from the weight of Rocky IV weighing down on it but Steven Caple Jr's sure direction gave us another compelling story in the series.
Making his debut as director, Michael B. Jordan, bursts into the role with a confidence that is as impressive as the film around it. Written by Keegan Coogler and Zach Baylin, Jordan confidently brings us a story of two brothers torn apart by fate and regret. Adonis “Donnie” Creed has retired from boxing, spending his days with his deaf daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent), and his music producing wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson) when his childhood friend Damien “Dame” Anderson (Jonathan Majors) comes back on a quest to prove himself the greatest.
From the get go this film feels different given that there's no Rocky in the film, but free from the weight of legacy, Jordan finds new ground to tread. The saga in both iterations has always been about regret and loss, and this is no different. The debt that Donnie feels he owes Dame is palpable and it's to the credit of Jordan and Majors acting that you buy into the friendship before it goes sour.
Jordan paces the film well, giving us the shortest in the Creed series so far without skimping on character. He shoots the fight scenes expertly, having stated he took inspiration from anime, it's not hard to see the influences. So much so you expect Donnie to get hit so hard he does an Akira slide across the boxing ring.
The returning actors are all superb. Thompson continues to be a strong foil to Jordan's good natured but rage filled Donnie, giving her equal weight in the story. It's Majors, however, who dominates the film. His charisma, and menace, are felt in the simplest of scenes. His delivery of the line “I can't stop thinking about bed bugs” is both filled with menace and pain.
The film suffers from the loss of Ludwig Göransson as composer, meaning the music doesn't always hit the heights of the previous two films. But, as the film builds to it's emotional and physically demanding climax, Jordan pulls out all the stops for an at-times visually inspired smackdown.
While setting up an interesting avenue for a fourth instalment, this is a satisfying entry into the series and shows that Jordan has promise as a director that few others have. Pardon the pun but… it's a knock-out!
