Warning: Some spoilers ahead. 

By Randolph Campbell

This past spring break, the varsity lacrosse team got together to watch an entertaining, motivational, and heart touching movie, Creed III. As a way to bond as a team, our captains, including myself, Warner Lewis (‘24), Tyler Stepanian (‘23), and Eli Petty (‘23), thought it would be a great idea to get together and connect through a movie that portrays toughness, adversity, and triumph. 

Due to our knowledge of the other movies in the franchise, including Creed and Creed II, along with the famous series of Rocky movies, we knew that this movie would be the perfect one to bond over. For me, Rocky movies have always been some of my favorites, having watched almost every one of them with my dad. Personally, 1985’s Rocky IV is my favorite, as Rocky (played by Sylvester Stallone) takes down Ivan Drago (played by Dolph Lundgren), a young star representing the Soviets during the the Cold War and the immense tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. As the Creed series had already created two great movies with exceptional reviews, our team was quite excited to see what Creed III had in store.

Photo credit: Scotti Bros. via Wikimedia Commons.

At the end of Creed II, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan, who also makes his directorial debut with Creed III) defeats Viktor Drago (Florean Munteanu), the son of Ivan Drago, who killed Creed’s father, Apollo (Carl Weathers), in an exhibition match in Rocky IV. Creed ultimately makes peace with his father’s name when he visits his grave after his victory against Victor. For most viewers, the ending of Creed II was stellar, because Creed was able to clear the air by defeating Drago, who was coached and raised by his father’s killer. 

After Creed defeats Drago in his last fight and earns back the title, at the beginning of Creed III, Adonis is retired from boxing. For myself and many of the team watching, we were confused as to why Adonis had stepped away from the ring, because in the movies prior, his dominant performance in the ring defined his character. However, with Creed not involved in boxing at the start of the movie, viewers were able to see Adonis through a different lens. Personally, even after watching the beginning and knowing his current status with boxing, many of us had a feeling that he would eventually return to boxing, because Adonis said, “I am not the same without it.” 

The main storyline focused on the return of Adonis’ childhood friend Damian (Jonathan Majors), his best friend growing up and the person that introduced him to boxing. As their relationship returns to how it was when they were teenagers, Adonis wants to give Damian an opportunity to train in his gym. As an older boxer, people overlooked Damian; however, he quickly displays that he was able to compete with the best. Even so, Adonis and Damian’s relationship quickly deteriorates, because Damian takes advantage of Adonis and maneuvers his way into a significant fight in order to boost his self-image as a boxer. Damian eventually dominates this fight and displays why he is still one of the best fighters in the world. In a sense, after Damian’s victory, he turns his back on Adonis, because he is now at the top in the boxing world and states, “I don’t need you anymore.” 

I enjoyed the addition of Damian as a new character and to see how Adonis’ and Damian’s relationship went through a cycle of transforming from best friends into rivals. The new point of view regarding Adonis was also very interesting because it did not just focus on his boxing career. With the addition of Damian, the movie did an exceptional job of creating a hero and a villain, allowing for the viewer to pick which side they wanted to root for. Past Creed movies have lacked a rich outside story separate from boxing; however, Creed III portrays a different perspective because of the creation of a lasting relationship between Adonis and Damian. 

Stepanian said, “I thought the storyline of the movie was really good, but at times the cinematography was poorly executed.” I agree; at the end of the film, when Adonis is fighting Damian for the heavyweight belt, there are multiple musical montages and illusions that refer back to their past as friends and enemies. For the director of the film, the idea of this scene was excellent, but I can see how it can be a bit confusing for the viewer if they had not closely followed along to the development of Adonis’ and Damian’s relationship throughout the movie. However, I like how the last scene is able to bring everything together. 

Rotten tomatoes gave Creed III 3.9 stars out of 5, which is a lower rating than both Creed and Creed II. Also, when diving deeper into comments from viewers of this film on IMDb, many comments said that Creed III was in simple terms, “a let down.” More specifically, one of the comments states, “The first two creeds had that same grit feel of the rocky franchise and this movie did not have that. The scenes were anticlimactic and generic.” I felt similarly after watching the Rocky movies and both Creed and Creed II. The aspect of Creed and Creed II that I really enjoyed was that they had scenes that related back to the Rocky series and carried along the legacy of those movies. However, Creed III moves away from this narrative and tries to take a different approach, which most people did not enjoy after watching the film. 

Featured image courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.