Alright so Creed III is punching its way into theaters, with Adonis returning for the main
event, going toe to toe with a ghost from his past, the Kang Gang…
Wait, that's actually..
Uhhh Nevermind.
But yeah these Creed flicks have really landed for me, and this third ramps things up even
more.
So in this video we’re going to be breaking this thing down for y’all, what the ending
means for Creed, where the heck was Rocky, potential spin-offs, and of course our reaction
and review for this haymaker flying, Hadouken style movie.
All sorts of heavy spoilers in this heavyweight match up, so a huge thank you for clicking
this, I’m your feather-weight host Jared.
Put up your dukes and let’s get into Creed III.
Alright so Creed III picks up years after the events of Creed II, with Adonis now comfortably
living the retired life career-wise, and being more of a family man.
He hasn’t boxed in the ring for roughly 3 years, taking a page from Rocky 3, instead
focusing on training the best up and coming boxers in his gym, and setting up the biggest
of prize fights.
However as these things go, a ghost from his past appears at his doorstep stirring up old
forgotten memories.
Damian "Dame" Anderson, played by Jonathan Majors, is that ghost.
Back in the day, both lived in a boys home together, with Damian being an up and comer
in the amatuer boxing leagues.
But after a night of the two hanging out, Adonis assaults an old boy's home guardian
that abused them, Damian pulls a gun, with Adonis running away, resulting in Damian taking
the heat and going to prison for 18 years.
Now all of this past coming back to haunt them/underdog revenge story leads the pair
to face off against one another in a huge prize fight at Dodger stadium.
But not before Adonis gives Damian a second chance, training at his gym for free, becoming
a sparring partner with Creed’s prized Felix Chavez, the reigning heavyweight champ of
the world.
However all of this was a part of Dame’s plan, orchestrating an assault on Viktor Drago,
who was supposed to fight Chavez, taking his place in the event due to urgent scheduling,
beating him mercilessly in the ring, and becoming the heavyweight champ basically overnight.
Classic nepotism.
Creed knows he must make right for his wrongs, so he retires from retirement, jumping back
in the ring, publicly challenging Dame for the title.
Now the whole story, especially the ending, deals with past trauma, regrets, grudges,
fractured relationships, living in the past, needing to overcome those barriers, and forgiveness.
Creed is dealing with the haunting memory of that night long ago, Damian essentially
using him, and his mother who hid letters Damian had written Creed all those years ago.
Very The Notebookish.
But one of the most emotional scenes is Creeds mother passing due to a stroke, but even she
goes as far as to forgive Apollo and Adonis in her last moments, which drives Creed to
do the same.
As for Damian, he is dealing with the fact his life and dream was robbed from him, and
even though he doesn’t know Creed never received his letters, he holds that against
him in their final bout with one another.
This final climatic 12 round boxing match is different from your stereotypical boxing
matches, because Jordan uses some of his anime influences here to showcase how, yes this
is a fight amongst two behemoths, but also each is fighting their own internal problems
and struggles.
A moment where prison bars are on a side of the ring is the struggle Damian endured, while
visualizing it for Creed.
The same goes for Creed, when punching Damian, he visualizes him as a pillow, which was something
tied to the boy's home where he was abused as a child.
So it’s really interesting the way Jordan was able to frame this final fight as several
different things, allowing it to become personal for each character.
Creed essentially gets a second, third, ninth wind thinking of his mother, knocking out
Damian with less than a minute left in the 12th round.
Creed goes on to become the reigning heavyweight champ once again, and the peak of boxing.
So not too surprising for this underdog type story.
But the ending honestly feels like the deleted scene from Creed II where Creed talks with
Viktor in the locker room.
Of course this time it is Creed and Damian in these positions, with the two finally forgiving
one another for everything they had gone through.
It’s a much-earned final scene for the pair, calm and emotional, and sets up Damian as
someone who could make a return in the franchise.
Now does Creed III feature any sort of post credits scene tease towards what's next for
the champ?
Like does Street Fighter’s Blanka jump out, electrify Creed, and break apart his car?
Ehhh no, not exactly.
But at the Hollywood Premiere of Creed III, Michael B Jordan did hint at potentially more
Creed movies or even spin-offs saying, “Building the Creed universe is something that I’m
really excited about.”
So it’s no surprise B Jordan wants Creed to be what Rocky was.
So I could see Creed 4 having him back in the limelight, his stock higher than ever,
but with a bigger target on his back.
Even going international with the scope of things and the anime influences of the villains
and fight choreography.
Maybe not as far as the street fights of Rocky V and Tommy Gunn, but you see where I’m
coming from.
And with the mention of a bigger Creed universe, this all ties in with the reports of a Drago
movie in the works.
Reported exclusively by TheWrap, screenwriter Robert Lawton had been tapped to write Drago,
focusing on the Drago family, both Ivan and Viktor.
No further details have been revealed, so I could see this picking up on the character
current day in terms of the Creed franchise, but peppering in flashbacks to show some of
his origins and struggles, without fully diving into another stereotypical Hollywood origin
story.
I’m curious if you’d want to see this Rocky and Creed franchise blow out, and get
weird with all of these different boxers.
If so, drop your best anime/video game-esque character for Creed to face off against in
the comments.
Mine would be Ethelbert P. Shackleton III fighting only in the Old English boxing style
BRILLIANT!
Now one of the biggest felt absences from the film was good ole’s Rocky.
Ehhh Rocky, where you at?
Stallone is nowhere to be seen.
His name is mentioned in passing a couple of times, while some scenes feel like they
needed his essence.
However the story never fully gives the audiences an explanation of where he’s at, his status,
really anything.
Well it's a bit of a messy behind the scenes reason why the creator of this character and
franchise isn’t here.
Quick story time, but back when Stallone was trying to get Rocky off of the ground, he
ended up selling the ownership rights to producer Irwin Winkler, because at the time Stallone
only had $100 to his name, and basically had to.
Now fast forward almost 5 decades, Stallone still has zero ownership of the character
or franchise, and was a bit caught off guard when he heard news of the Drago spin-off,
calling Winkler a "parasite" who is "picking clean the bones of another wonderful character
I created."
In a recent interview with Sirius XM, Stallone shared that he's had a "rough emotional ride"
in choosing to cut ties with the franchise he created, but that he refuses to support
any new Creed movies as long as producer Irwin Winkler is still involved.
So who knows, maybe if and/or when Creed 4 comes around, Rocky will make his long awaited
return up those Philadelphia Museum of Art stairs with everyone cheering.
But yeah I had a solid time with Creed III.
Sure, is it predictable, with the story beats jumping to exactly what and where you thought
they were going?
Yeah kinda, but I don't think this needed a deep introspective look on the character.
Though it does crack into some great symbolism and subtext of past trauma, regrets, grudges,
fractured relationships, and living in the past in the final fight between Creed and
Dame.
With the final fight being something totally new, fantastical, leaning into the anime influences
Jordan wanted to showcase here.
And honestly that worked for me.
It feels like it has its own style and identity thanks to Michael B Jordan’s directorial
debut vision, but is a bit more than just another boxing movie.
It has a sprinkle of a revenge thriller, mirroring elements of 2015’s The Gift, with Jonathan
Majors absolutely nailing the dramatic scenes, and being a complete monster in the physical
scenes.
My scorecard at the end of 12 rounds would be a 7/10 for Creed III.
It’s got the stuff Rocky and Creed fans are looking for, and there’s enough evolution
in the fight choreography to make it feel fresh.
Like some really cool slow down, analyzing and targeting body parts that feels video
game-esque.
But I thought there were some really obvious pacing issues between acts 2 and 3, hoping
for more bombastic boxing, and honestly Rocky was definitely missed in the emotional scenes
after Creed’s mother passed away.
Rocky didn’t need a huge roll, but he was missed.
Also you know in Creed 6 or whatever, his daughter is going to carry on the mantle.
It’s right there, let me know I was right in like 12 years.
Anyway I’d love to hear your thoughts on Creed III.
Was this another solid addition into the Rocky/Creed world, and what did you think of B Jordan’s
directorial debut?
And I’ll let you know
We’re currently running a competition giving away 3 copies of The Rocky 4K box set on the
15th of March.
And all you have to do, to be in for a chance of winning, is like the video, make sure you
subscribe with notifications on, and drop a comment below with your thoughts on Creed
III.
We pick the comments at random at the end of the month, and the winners of the last
one are on screen right now.
So if that’s you, message me on twitter at heavy spoilers.
If you want something else to watch, be sure to check out some of our other videos, right
over there.
Do it, click one.
But with that out of the way, thanks for the constant support, I’ve been Jared, I’ll
see you in the next one, take care, and peace.