'Creed III' Review: Michael Jordan And Jonathan Majors Turn Sequel Into Clash Of 2 Acting Titans
Sylvester Stallone did not want to participate in this. So don't expect a Rocky fix for Creed III now in theaters without a single mention of Rocky Balboa, the heavyweight champion that spawned this spin-off series.
A true star in the copycat world, Michael B. Jordan returns as boxing champ Adonis "Donnie" Creed in Creed III. Sequels are nothing new these days. But Jordan is using it for his directorial debut. And no wonder he's a winner.
After six Rocky films, the first of which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1976, and Creed's two subsequent films, the first in 2015 directed by Black Panther wizard Ryan Coogler and the return of Oscar-nominated Stallone, he played the iconic the role of Rocky. Donnie's mentor and trainer is the late champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), whose father he never met.
Okay, enough catching up. As a star and director, Jordan may be down the road, but he knows how to keep you in the game. With Rocky MIA, we start with Donnie enjoying a luxurious retirement in Los Angeles with his rock star wife Bianca (the gorgeous Tessa Thompson). The two use sign language to communicate with their deaf daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent).
Dhoni did not stop boxing completely. He takes care of angry new champion Felix Chavez (Jose Benavidez). But the life of an action star is never easy. Before you can tell who the villain is, a bruise from Donny's past appears.
Meet Damian "Dam" Anderson, a childhood friend who spent almost two decades in prison for robbery. Dhoni ran in vain when Dame, a former member of the Golden Gloves, struck back. This means that the performance must take place, and the lady is determined to raise money.
Jordan needed a live wire to play checkers, and found it in brilliant newcomer Jonathan Majors, an Emmy nominee for Lovecraft's Land, who currently plays villain Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man. and Wasp: Quantum Mania.
The lady is holding back her anger. But the Majors lets you feel him boiling inside as he re-enters Donnie's life as a stalker, shows up at his gym, trains with a new champion, and claims a title shot, first with Chavez and then with Creed himself.
Written by Keenan Coogler and Zach Beilein, Jordan creates tension on the brink. And this is before the big fight that Jordan puts on with such brutality that your uppercuts elude you.
Jordan is distracted by alien family drama about Bianca's hearing loss and her daughter's insistence on learning how to beat school bullies.
But the real relationship in Creed III is the relationship between two unrelated brothers fighting in the ring. And what a fight it is, filmed with IMAX cameras and with intense closeness.
Even as the plot crumbles, Jordan and Majors Creed III find themselves in a battle between two titans determined to win. Now there is something to rejoice
