It’s a pretty well-known fact that ‘Rocky’ is one of the most iconic movies of the 70s. Forged through pure sweat and tears by its star Sylvester Stallone, it had a notoriously challenging time getting made. He was also able to spin it into one of the most iconic movie franchises of all time. The character has come to represent a certain brand of overcoming obstacles, of beating impossible odds that the audience can get behind. The feeling of the underdog runs deep in its DNA. Engagement with the series feels almost evergreen, with its core messages never really going out of style.
Nearly a decade after the last Rocky movie, the franchise was reimagined to center around Rocky’s legendary sparring partner’s son, Adonis “Donnie” Creed. After Ryan Coogler’s interpretation kicked things off in 2015, another sequel followed. Adonis has had his own string of challenges separate from Rocky’s, who’s been there most of the time through Donnie’s journey of self-discovery and growth into his own person. In 2023, the newest of these movies, ‘Creed III,’ arrived. In this latest installment, Donnie reunites with an old friend who reconnects him with a very dark part of his past. ‘Creed III’ embraces most of the typical ‘Rocky’ platitudes: hard work, bettering oneself, and achieving excellence. However, it artfully adds to these layers a few more important lessons. The movie is ultimately about forgiving oneself to move forward, accepting responsibility for one’s past life without self-judgment, and the importance of making amends. This is mainly explored through the story, the characters, and the filmmaking itself.
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What Really Makes the ‘Rocky’ Franchise
The first thing this movie does well is the messages. The messages have always been the most iconic thing about the decades-old series. Stallone made sure to imbue the first movie with a central theme of struggling to achieve success that heavily mirrored his life at the time. This has carried through every single related movie since. The ‘Creed’ series interprets this in a different way. Instead of the titular character starting from nothing and ending up with everything, Donnie starts with everything and then struggles to build something for himself that hasn’t been handed to him. This is a painful process that he goes through in each movie, and it’s no different in ‘Creed III’. By every traditional metric, Donnie has everything a person would want. At this point in his life, he has notoriety, he’s in a loving marriage, and he has a wonderful child. However, old ghosts from his past routinely come back to haunt him. Here, his old friend Dame comes back into the picture in need of revenge. His reappearance brings up incredibly complicated feelings for Donnie, who thought his ugly past was over and done with.
The experience proves to be yet another learning experience for Donnie. Without spoiling too much, it acts as a teachable moment for Dame, too. The past situation that happened between the two was tragic and traumatized both of them. It’s the reason why Dame came back to earn the title that he was so desperate for in his youth, before it came to a screeching halt. Both men recognize that the healthiest thing they can do is to just move on and choose to forgive each other. A similar sentiment is echoed by Donnie’s wife, Dee (played with nuance by Tessa Thompson). She explains to him that he has to forgive himself for what happened between him and Dame all those years ago. One mistake in the past doesn’t mean a person can’t deserve a good life if they work for it.
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Michael B. Jordan Crushes it as First-Time Director
The filmmaking showcases a lot of these messages well. The film is the directorial debut of its lead star, Michael B. Jordan. Jordan is a solid first-time director, deftly handling weighty shots that are symbolic of the ethos of ‘Creed III’. When Dame (played by an intense Jonathan Majors) is stewing in his own angry thoughts, he’s shot hunched over, and in constant motion. The lighting is normally dim in these scenes, such as weaker bathroom lights or the fading glow of a campfire. The menace in his performance is amplified by these directing choices. There are also plenty of close-up shots of Dame’s face as he’s expressing any given chilling emotion: from smugness to anger to vengefulness.
Jordan also introduces a few new filmmaking techniques to the fighting sequences. This is an accomplishment in and of itself. Lots of people watch these movies for that specific reason, and at this point, it’s hard not to repeat certain shots and visual tropes. Jordan is well aware of this, and still manages to reassemble the fight sequences in an original way. In the first fight of the film that takes place before Donnie’s retirement, Jordan uses an interesting blend of bobbing and weaving shots that speed up and slow down. The varying speeds are a relatively unique way to showcase the fight, setting the tone of the fight as effortless and quick to ensure Donnie’s victory.
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While It’s Great, It’s Not Perfect
There are some things this film lacks. The biggest flaw of this movie is the same flaw that’s in every other sports or boxing movie. The story itself is fairly obvious after a certain point. We know that Donnie is going to encounter a new and similar demon as per the previous movies. We know that his personal life is going to be at stake. The ‘Rocky’ franchise is nothing if not predictable. While the series, on average, does this really well, the fact that it repeats itself so frequently won’t play well with everyone.
On the other hand, the tropes of ‘Creed III’ will also definitely be seen as a positive by some audience members. People who go to watch a ‘Rocky’ movie (and sports movies in general) know what they’re getting into. In fact, they expect to see certain things when watching specific kinds of movies. ‘Creed III’ is cut from this cloth, leaning into its genre tropes with an ease that denotes a sophisticated filmmaker fully aware of the power in the story they’re telling. That alone warrants a positive review for this chapter in the franchise.
Director: Michael B. Jordan
Writers: Keenan Coogler, Zach Baylin
Actors: Tessa Thompson, Michael B. Jordan, Jonathan Majors
By Zachary DePiore
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Zachary DePiore graduated from Ohio University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Communications. He’s loved writing his entire life, from creating picture books when he was seven to learning how to write copy, scripts, audio stories for radio and more in college. The Hollywood Insider’s dedication to combining deft storytelling and positivity made him realize that this had to be his next step forward. Some of his hobbies include traveling, tv shows, and movies. His favorite show is Avatar: The Last Airbender. As of right now, he’s a charity fundraiser in Cincinnati.
Zachary DePiore graduated from Ohio University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Communications. He’s loved writing his entire life, from creating picture books when he was seven to learning how to write copy, scripts, audio stories for radio and more in college. The Hollywood Insider’s dedication to combining deft storytelling and positivity made him realize that this had to be his next step forward. Some of his hobbies include traveling, tv shows, and movies. His favorite show is Avatar: The Last Airbender. As of right now, he’s a charity fundraiser in Cincinnati.
