Emotions on the ropes in ‘Creed III’

JAZMYN DE JESUS STAFF REPORTER

The third installment of the Creed series presents a new take on a brother’s betrayal story that serves as a positive example of Black masculinity with plenty of anime references woven into the creative fight scenes despite shortcomings in its visuals and script.

Michael B. Jordan stars in and makes his directorial debut with “Creed III.”

While the previous two Creed films follow the same plotlines and story progressions of the Rocky films, “Creed III” differentiates slightly and arguably has a more meaningful social commentary.

Jordan incorporated much of his own influences and views with the latest installment which helped the movie as much as harming it.

Due to the fact that the prior films were written by Jordan’s longtime collaborator, director Ryan Coogler, Jordan’s attempt at mimicking the visuals and verbal cues seemed a bit awkward and at times corny.

“Creed III” attempts to be the most unique out of the series, but some directorial choices come off as odd and not intentional.

The heavily promoted “Creed III” soundtrack includes a very long and out of place cameo from singer-songwriter Kehlani, which is overly glaring.

Similarly, the product placement in this movie is not very discreet. Thankfully that did not take away from any significant character moments.

The dialogue and script is straight forward enough. However, more emotionally heavy scenes with Bianca (Tessa Thompson), Adonis Creed’s wife, could have been more fleshed out. These scenes could have also shown more of Thompson and Jordan’s acting chops and developed the story further.

The acting performances from Jordan, Thompson, and Jonathan Majors were all excellent. They brought life to what could have been a dull script.

Thompson’s character was given a very one-note role as

Creed’s wife in this installment compared to the previous films. Yet, with the few lines she had, she still managed to help the audience see what was not being said.

Visually, compared to similar action-dramas that have come out in recent years, it was not very unique.

However the final fight between Adonis Creed (Micheal B. Jordan) and Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors) was definitely a highlight.

The two characters started off as childhood friends who felt more