CREED III

Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) is now retired, instead promoting fights rather than participating in them. That is until an old childhood friend Damian (Johnathan Majors) comes back into his life, seeking to reestablish his early and brief amateur boxing career before serving an 18-year prison sentence. I'll start off by saying each CREED film is solid and can stand on its own. Rarely do you see all 3 films maintain a consistent level of excellence but all of these films do. That's why if they decided to make a 4th, I'd be down for it again. Some of Michael B. Jordan's best work has been his portrayal of Apollo Creed's son and this is no exception. Switching gears in his career and dealing with enormous guilt over his friend's incarceration (which he somewhat had a hand in), the story between him and Damian is very rich and it's easy to feel compassion for both fighters. Whereas Majors steals the show again as his stock is quickly rising in Hollywood. Both are in peak, physical shape but Damian has this exterior innocence to him outside of the ring that suckers you in. Inside of it, he's a brawler and a very raw and unorthodox boxer, which was refreshing to see someone have a different style of fighting rather than what audiences have traditionally seen in boxing films. My only grips with the film were the end felt slightly rushed. The training montage and especially the match between Adonis and Damian left me wanting more. My other disappoint was the lack of involvement of one Rocky Balboa. Outside of that, the film packs a lot of punches and audiences will be pleased with the final results. Props to Jordan on his directorial debut as well. Better than CREED I and on par with CREED II for best in the franchise. 7.5/10