Creed III is the third entry in the Rocky spin-off series and the feature directorial debut of its star Michael B. Jordon. This entry completely steps out of the shadow of the Rocky, featuring a story not connected to any characters of the original franchise.
This entry opens with a flashback to a teenage Adonis Creed sneaking out at night to join his friend Damien, who fights in an underground boxing match. Damien is a Golden Gloves boxing champion and has dreams of turning pro. Later in the evening, they have a run in with the law. We don’t initially know the entirety of the events of this evening, but pieces of this story are told in flashbacks throughout the film.
Cut to an adult Adonis, who is fighting Ricky Conlan, the main opponent from the first movie. Quickly wrapping up that storyline from the first Creed, Adonis retires as champion and now runs Delphi Boxing Academy with his trainer Tony “Little Duke” Evers Jr. The duo train and promote their protege and world champion Felix Chavez, in an upcoming bout against Creed II’s Viktor Drago.
In the midst of all this, Damien, fresh out of a long prison sentence, comes back into Adonis’s life. Events unfold reminiscent of the first Rocky film, where Drago has to pull out of the upcoming bout, and Damien ends up with a Cinderella/Rocky-esque shot at the title. However, this is a tale of “What if Rocky was evil,” with Damien using dirty/underhanded tricks during the bout and actually wins.
Completing his full heel turn, Damien badmouths Adonis for abandoning him all those years he was in prison, and Adonis comes out of retirement to challenge him for the title.
One of the things the Creed series out does Rocky in is its supporting characters, who are given more to do and have their own character arcs. Adonis’s wife Bianca has become a music producer, stepping away from performing herself due to her growing hearing loss. Her and Damien relate to each other, as they both watch other people living lives they planned to have for themselves. Bianca’s daughter, who is deaf herself, is bullied in school and wants to be a fighter (this plot thread isn’t developed much). A retired Donnie now has no outlet for his emotions, leading to tension with his wife, who feels alienated when her husband won’t share a painful part of his past. Adonis’s adopted mother Mary Anne, (Apollo Creed’s widowed wife) is very ill, and there is tension between her and her adopted son due to his past relationship with Damien. Mary Anne herself gets a moment to shine, expressing her feelings on Apollo’s past sins and her own relationship with Adonis. It is also mentioned that Mary Anne’s biological children never bothered with Adonis, which is the first time these two half siblings are mentioned in the series.
With it’s expected in ring action in addition to its strong subplots and character development, Creed III turns out to be one of the strongest entries of the franchise. In fact, Creed III may well be the best film of the whole series.
P.S. It is my opinion that this is the perfect place to end the Creed saga, and lead into a series of films about Viktor Drago.
Hard Coal Studios 