3/7/23 - Creed III (2023) - 5+/10

A solid and enjoyable addition to the Rocky/Creed pantheon.

Unlike the 1st 2, this script and fight scenes lack the set ups and call backs, detailing the story and struggle of & through the fight. Instead, Jordan goes for a big histrionic spectacle. Metaphors become manifest into the mind's eye reality of the battle. Sometimes it is a bit gauche but the body blows still land.

Perhaps I was tainted or just colored by the suggestion, but there is such a clear and identifiable anime influence at play. The intense close ups, the compositions especially when facing off with one another, the distinct shot reverse shot elements all reminded me of anime stylings - this isn’t a bad thing, far from it. I love a generation of filmmakers who are intrinsically identifying with and immersed in anime - letting its themes, styles, nuances, and expressive qualities influence the art they create. It is an exciting evolution.

While it swings for the knockout, not all of those blows land. This should all have been about deep & searing emotion but unfortunately this felt the most inert of the 3 for me. The ramp ups are too intense and cloistered. It was jumpy, didn’t feel as organic and thus less deserving of the investment I wanted it to hook me with.

Majors continues to deliver here. His acting sparring with Jordan was a treat. It’s amazing how I can see him in 2 roles within a month of each other and the one where he plays a time & space traveling supervillain of nigh-unlimited power comes off as the weaker bad guy. Majors’ Damian here is an intense and larger than life monster, from the shadows of memory to a leathered glove to the face, he dispenses rawness and subtly equally. He burns with desire and menace, and it rules. That isn’t to say that Jordan isn’t great as well and this pairing jumps off the screen as one I want to see again and again in the future.

Creed III follows the tropes of the Rocky franchise but with its own flavor and while missing out on the greatness, it still doesn’t punch below its weight.