Michael B. Jordan steps up in Creed III both behind the camera (in his directorial debut) and in front (leading the film without support from Sylvester Stallone this time), and delivers one of the most emotional and visually inventive instalments in the franchise so far.

Premise: Three years after retiring from boxing as world heavyweight champion, Adonis “Donnie” Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has become a successful boxing promoter working with his former trainer “Little Duke” (Wood Harris), while enjoying a comfortable life as husband to Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and father to Amara (Mila Davis-Kent). But the trauma of his past comes back to haunt him when former childhood friend Damian "Dame" Anderson (Jonathan Majors) is released from prison and comes looking for a chance to live up to the promise of his former days as an amateur boxing champion.

Review:

A lot was riding on Creed 3 when it was announced – not only is it the first film in the nine-movie Rocky/Creed series to not feature Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, but it also is the first to stand entirely on its own two feet without any obvious links back to the legacy of the Rocky movies (instead relying solely on the mythology established in the previous two Creed movies). All that and it marks the debut of an unproven director…

Of course, that “unproven director” is none other than Michael B. Jordan, the man who has been playing Adonis “Donnie” Creed for almost a decade now, and so there was arguably no one better to take on the directorial mantle in Creed III. As a result, the behind the scenes action mirrors the onscreen story, with a new talent (Donnie/Michael B. Jordan) stepping out from the shadow of his mentor (Rocky/Ryan Coogler).

“…Jonathan Majors is arguably the best thing in this movie, portraying a lifetime’s worth of regret & resentment…”

It’s a credit to the movie that Rocky’s absence is not felt one bit. Rocky was given the perfect send off in the hugely enjoyable Creed II, both professionally (when he steps back from the crowds after Donnie defeats Viktor Drago, to let his protégé have his time in the spotlight) and personally (when he reconnects with his estranged son and grandchild), and it would have felt crass to undo those endings by manufacturing a way to bring him back for this film. Instead, Creed III is about Donnie coming face-to-face with the trauma of his own past, rather than the past of his father, Apollo.

That past is personified in the movie by Damian "Dame" Anderson, brought to life by another mesmerising performance from Jonathan Majors. Jonathan Majors is on a hell of a roll at the moment, after having been the best thing in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and having stolen the season one finale of Loki from Tom Hiddleston – and as good as Michael B. Jordan and the rest of the cast are in Creed III, Jonathan Majors is also arguably the best thing in this movie too. Majors is able to balance and portray all of the conflicting facets of Damien, a man who at one time was like a brother to Donnie when they were both in a group home as children, but who is now carrying a lifetime’s worth of regret and resentment. Majors can convey contradictory emotions in a single scene, doing one thing on the surface while his eyes are telling a completely different story – which is no easy thing.

“…Damien remains a tragic & sympathetic character even when events escalate as the film progresses…”

One of the things I loved most about Creed II is how Viktor Drago was given as moving a character journey as any of the protagonists, which is a far cry from the caricatured opponents in films like Rocky III and Rocky IV. Incidentally, Creed III features a cameo from Florian Munteanu as Viktor Drago, and I loved that the movie took the time to follow up on his character’s story, which only makes the end of Creed II that much more poignant and satisfying. Creed III arguable goes even further in terms of fully fleshing out its antagonist, as thanks to Jonathan Majors’ performance, Damien remains a tragic and sympathetic character even when events escalate as the film progresses.

But that’s not to say that the rest of the cast in Creed III are not great. Tessa Thompson arguably gets more to do as Bianca in this film than in the last instalment, and while she is still very much a secondary character in terms of the main plot, she does get a nuanced subplot about her transition from being a singer to a music producer, and she gets to play some interesting scenes alongside Jonathan Majors as part of this. Meanwhile, in an encouraging step towards better representation, Donnie’s and Bianca’s deaf daughter Amara is played by deaf actress Mila Davis-Kent.

“…delivers some of the most visually interesting boxing sequences of the entire franchise…”

Of course, front and centre is Michael B. Jordan as Donnie, and as good as Jonathan Majors is, I don’t want to give the impression that Michael B. Jordan is in anyway outmatched in the acting stakes. He has to take Donnie to some new emotional territory in this film, from the initial awkwardness of his reconnection with the newly-released Damien, to the guilt and trauma that he’s been burying for the last 20 years, and Michael B. Jordan the actor meets every challenge that Michael B. Jordan the director throws at him.

In terms of this being Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut, it’s one hell of an impressive one. He delivers some of the most visually interesting boxing sequences of the entire nine-film franchise, mixing the realistic up-close-and-personal visual style of the earlier films with inventive new flourishes, like slow-motion cuts to convey the tactics of the fights, and a stylised sequence which shows the action from the emotional perspectives of the characters.

“…delivers emotional arcs for the characters & enthralling boxing sequences…”

That’s not to say that the film is entirely perfect (even in the context of what it is), as there are a couple of clichéd plot developments that you can see coming a mile away, and there’s at least one plot thread that appears to be set up only to not go anywhere. But all of that can be forgiven because the film delivers where it really counts – in the emotional arcs of the characters, and the enthralling boxing sequences.