Review: “Creed III”

After six Rocky and two Creed movies, is there any more story left to tell in “Creed III?”  Apparently, there is, but it feels so familiar you’ll swear you’ve already seen this one before.

Life has turned out pretty great for Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan).  After securing his world heavyweight champion title, Adonis has retired and now splits his time between the gym he owns and time with his wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent).  Amara is a chip off the block, and after punching a bully at school, Bianca and Adonis have the classic disagreement in boxing films.  Can you solve everything with your fists?  Bianca urges him to see the value in emotional intelligence, but if we’ve learned one thing from the Rocky legacy, the final solution arrives by beating someone to a pulp.

It’s at this point Damian Anders (Jonathan Majors) re-enters Adonis’ life.  Through a series of flashbacks we learn they spent time in an abusive foster home together, and it was Damian who first introduced Adonis to the world of boxing.  Shortly after making a name for himself, an incident occurs that lands Damian in prison for 20 years.  Adonis, riddled with guilt, takes Damian under his wing and lets him begin training at his gym.  To no one’s surprise, Damian is consumed by anger and envy and actively tries to take everything from Adonis.

“Creed III” is Michael B. Jordan‘s directorial debut, and he steps up to the challenge.  It’s very competently made, and he even takes some cues from Ryan Coogler‘s energetic fight camerawork in the first “Creed.”  All of the performances are quite good, especially the young Mila Davis-Kent.  In typical fashion, Jonathan Majors chews the scenery of any shot he’s in.  The only problem is with the script penned by Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin.  It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just so painfully by the numbers that it’s boring.  There is not a single surprise or unexpected moment in the entire movie.  There’s a saying in screenwriting that “every story has already been told, it’s more about how you tell it.”  Sadly, this story has already been told in the exact same way, over and over again.  Adonis doesn’t have a character arc, he had a character Mobius strip.