Creed III is the first movie of the Creed series to step out of Rocky’s shadow. And it would have been so easy to go there again, to return to the well of Rocky continuity for the plot of the film, much like Creed II had done; an early version of the pitch even involved the son of Mr. T’s Clubber Lang from Rocky III being Creed’s new opponent. But this is a surefire way for the series to get stale and I think writers Zach Baylin and Keenan Coogler, as well as producers Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan himself, quickly realized. As was part of the theme of both earlier movies, Adonis needs to forge his own path. Part of that means eschewing the convenience of the Rocky franchise and Rocky himself -this is the first movie in the entire extended franchise in which Sylvester Stallone does not appear, and his absence is barely noted. Another part of it though means identifying a new vision, separate from Rocky, and it shouldn’t be a surprise that the man most invested in doing that is Michael B. Jordan, whose career took off with Creed and now eight years later has stepped into the director’s chair for the first time to chart its new legacy.
Of course there are still echoes of Rocky in this -Stallone’s sophomore directing effort was Rocky II, and he went on to helm three more of the series’ six installments. But it also just really fits that Jordan would take this role on this film -it’s a part and a series that clearly matters a lot to him and it provides great ground for him to test his filmmaking acumen. His instincts are certainly bold in some regards and the movie does indeed benefit from his approach to the material.
As with the other Creed movies, it’s the personal conflict more than any fight that drives the narrative, though without the legacy of Apollo playing a role. Instead the movie opens on Adonis’ youth in L.A., when he was in the foster care system, and sneaking out to go to underground boxing matches with his close friend Damian Anderson, who is a fighter in this amateur league with aspirations for professional world championship status. But it gets derailed by a convenience store brawl that results in Dame going to prison for twenty years. Gradually parsed out through the movie is the exact nature of the incident, the role our title figure played and his subsequent repressed guilt.
Presently, Adonis has retired following a victorious rematch with his opponent from the first movie, and has dedicated his time to training new boxers when an adult Dame (Jonathan Majors) comes back into his life. And though he hides it at the start, it’s clear he’s still intent on his ambitions, and on revenge against Donnie -whom he sees as both responsible for his imprisonment and guilty of supplanting his own dream. This is evident from the moment of his reintroduction, and the movie threads a tense ticking clock until the bomb of his intentions drops. This relationship defines the film and it is so intricately played by Jordan and Majors, who each tap into its subtle nuance with tangibility and depth. Every line, expressive and physical choice Majors makes in these early goings, with Donnie or with his family, is peppered with passive aggression and sly manipulation nested in a cadence of desperation. While Jordan plays Donnie as on to at least some of this, cautious, and a touch fearful -pressured into acquiescing to Dame’s hints. Even as he is a big sports celebrity now, next to Dame he still recedes into the less confident little brother role –easily pushed and immensely penitent.
The film in general is a pretty good character study for Donnie, as he has to grapple with his past, his long suppressed insecurities, and this complicated relationship he very much let die. Jordan is keen to rise to the occasion and dig deeper into Donnie’s character, allowing himself to deliver maybe his best performance of this series. But he’s matched by Majors, who for his sinister tendencies and tense intimidating power of presence that make his first couple fights daunting to watch, relates well the tragedy of his experience and the envious rage of watching his best friend achieve all of his ambitions. It comes out in his fighting style, which is menacing, impulsive and violent, and in his personality when unmasked –which is just as much so. He is the first truly interesting, partly sympathetic antagonist this series has had, and while his character could stand to be fleshed out more as to his real emotional turmoil (there’s only a minor sense of it at the end), he is imminently engaging.
Tessa Thompson returns as Donnie’s wife Bianca, as does Phylicia Rashad as his mother, each settled in as important parts of his support structure –with their deaf daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent) the standout of just about every scene of Creed family life. Her precociousness and emulation of her father –a minor subplot of the film- make for several adorable sequences and the suggestion of a third generation of Creed boxers lying in wait. And while her role can tend towards saccharine, there’s a sweet warmth to this bond that is contrasted by Donnie’s more turbulent relationship with his own mom –keeping secrets from Donnie and suffering from a disposition towards strokes. Additionally, Amara functions as a symbol of culmination and contentment in Donnie’s life -how far he’s come both from his troubled childhood and even where he began the first Creed movie.
This Creed movie, as stated earlier, is Jordan’s first time behind the camera as well as in front of it, and as director he takes to the task beautifully and responsibly, and with an eye for distinguishing the film technically and visually from its predecessors. He makes genuinely thoughtful artistic choices here in terms of composition and editing -one great shot separates Donnie and Dame ahead of the latter’s debut fight by a wall in the locker room, each shrouded in a distinct light that highlights their respective moods. Earlier, Jordan employed a really powerful match cut to transition from past to present, and when he gets to the standard training montage, cutting between Donnie and Dame, it’s very clean and precise while highlighting the emotional core for the two fighters more than the physical.
But of course most notable is how Jordan choreographs the fight scenes, the one between Dame and Donnie’s own protege Felix Chavez (José Benavidez Jr.), and especially the climactic match between Dame and Donnie himself. Much has been made of the fact that Jordan drew on anime, particularly Naruto and Dragon Ball Z, for how he shot and edited the fights. And while that may sound like a bad idea, he adapts the style through camerawork and the cutting in a way that makes the fights more dynamic and visually thrilling. It’s a departure for sure from the grounded realism that characterized the boxing of the first Creed movie, but it works just as well to relate in a heightened style without betraying the overarching tone -and it sets Jordan’s vision apart, especially where he goes full anime in a haunting dream-like illusion midway through the last fight that emphasizes in an insanely literal way how personal this conflict is.
The film is overall pretty formulaic, and it ends in a formula way -though one that still manages a resonant catharsis. That is the nature of these movies. And yet within that formula there’s room for strong storytelling, sharp acting and characterization, and inspired direction. Creed III delivers on all of these and with an effectiveness that may even set it above its predecessors. It no longer needs Rocky to push it along, Creed has come into its own.
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JordanBosch
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jordan_D_Bosch
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/jbosch/
Comments
Post a Comment