Michael Jordan makes his directorial debut with Creed 3, in which he also plays the eponymous character who sets out on his own without Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) by his side for the first time and still comes out on top. The film’s screenplay is formulaic, but it still packs a solid punch and is a worthy addition to the franchise.
The success of the Creed franchise is primarily due to Adonis “Donnie” Creed’s inner conflict being at the core of each film. The first Creed (2015) was about Donnie establishing himself as a worthy boxer and stepping out of his father’s shadow. Creed 2 (2018) focused on Donnie trying to figure out what he was fighting for: avenging his father’s death or fighting for himself. Creed 3 (2023) depicts Donnie battling guilt as the ghost of his past returns to haunt him.
The film opens in 2002, when a young Donnie sneaks out of the house with his best friend Damian “Dame” Anderson (Spencer Moore), who fights and wins an underground boxing match to become the young Golden Glove champion with Donnie by his side. Dame has a bright future in boxing and aspires to become a world champion one day. Later that night, Donnie and Dame arrive in front of a liquor store, where Donnie meets a man named Leon and proceeds to beat him brutally. When Leon’s thugs draw close, Dame pulls a firearm and is taken into custody, while Donnie manages to flee the scene. Dame’s dreams are destroyed, and he is sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Fast forward to 2017: Donnie defends his title against Ricky Conlan (Tony Bellew) and then retires from boxing to devote more time to his family. Three years later, he runs the Delphi Boxing Academy with Duke (Wood Harris) and is promoting his protege Felix El Guerrero (Canelo Alvarez) to face Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu) in a championship match. Donnie is happy and satisfied in both his personal and professional endeavors. Screenwriters Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin rightfully spend a considerable amount of time showing the Creed family dynamics. Bianca (Tessa Thompson) had to make the tough choice to stop doing what she loves—performing live—to prevent permanent hearing loss, due to which she now produces records for famous singers, a sacrifice she had to make and live with. Their daughter, Amara (Mila Davis Kent), who has permanent hearing loss, is a fighter and a livewire who seems to be taking after her father. There are a few tender family moments, including those between Donnie and Amara and between him and Bianca, which are refreshingly honest, genuine, and comforting. But his perfect life is disturbed when Dame (Jonathan Majors) resurfaces back into his life.
Dame’s ambitions are clear, and he confronts Donnie to request a title shot for the World Championship, which he believes he deserves just like Creed did. There is a scene in which Donnie invites him to his ultra-modern, spacious home, where he meets Bianca and Amara. Dame is overwhelmed by all the lavishness around him, but his voice hints at envy rather than joy at Donnie’s success. He has always seen Donnie as his corner man and believes that he more than deserves this rich lifestyle that Donnie is living. On the other hand, Donnie goes out of his way, against Duke’s advice, to help Dame since he feels guilty for previously abandoning him. Donnie never visited Dame in jail and feels partially responsible for how things turned out for Dame. But, in his defense, he does it because he does not want to revisit the traumatic past. Even his mother, Mary Anne (Phylicia Rashad), hides the letters sent by Dame from him because she also does not want Donnie to go back to that life. This internal conflict of Donnie is brilliantly explored in the film, as we find shades of gray in his character too. And as a result, Donnie is finding it difficult to convey his emotions to his family, especially Bianca, which is pushing him further away from them.
On the other hand, Dame has ulterior motives. He manipulates Donnie into helping him get a shot at the title. Dame wins the fight by fighting dirty and becomes the world champion. Dame gets in over his head when he begins openly mocking Donnie and challenging him for a match. Donnie accepts because he no longer wants to run like he did in the past.
The final fight is arguably one of the best boxing fights in film history because it is not just about kinetic camera movements and clever use of slow motion that makes it effective. It is how Jordan makes it psychological and takes us deep into the mind of Donnie while he is fighting his most formidable opponent. While seated in the theater, I was rocking from side to side, and I could almost feel the blows they landed on each other. That fight was an extraordinary achievement for Michael Jordan as a debut director. But the film belongs to Jonathan Majors, with his masculine and raw portrayal of Dame with utter conviction. His character is very well-written; we empathize with his situation and what he is going through, which makes us root for him in some ways. Creed 3 takes a different direction from the other Rocky and Creed films, and it pays off.
Creed 3 movie link: IMDB
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