In Creed III, Jordan delivers a knockout, while Majors steals the show, once again proving he is one of Hollywood’s greatest. Check out the details in my parents guide movie review.
Creed III releases in theaters across the United States on Friday, March 3, 2023. The film stars Michael B. Jordan returning as Adonic Creed, Tessa Thompson (Bianca Creed), Phylicia Rashad (Mary-Anne Creed), Wood Harris (Duke), Mila Davis-Kent (Amara Creed), and Jonathan Majors (Damian). This third sequel has Jordan sitting in the director’s chair and was written by Keenan Coogler, Zach Baylin, and Ryan Coogler. Check out all the details in my parents guide movie review.
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Creed III Movie Quotes
Creed III Parents Guide
In Creed III: After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian (Jonathan Majors), resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian – a fighter who has nothing to lose.
Creed III Age Rating Parents Guide
Let’s take a look at what parents need to know before letting their young children watch Creed III.
Language: Creed III contains some strong language, with profanity used throughout. Stronger words include sh*t and d*mn and the N word is used in a few songs played throughout.
Mature Content: Other than the bad language mentioned above, the other big lookouts of adult material include are intense sports action and violence that is not appropriate for younger children. Some of the violence includes characters being attacked, beaten, and threatened with a gun. There are many scenes that show the boxers in the ring getting beaten and bloodied, and one particularly harsh scene shows a boxer spitting out his teeth in a bucket during a match. The boxing scenes are detailed, bloody, and violent. There is also the death of a parent, which may be triggering for some viewers. While there are no sex scenes to speak of, there are references made in sexual context and an implied sex scene. Characters consume alcohol, but the film contains no drug abuse.
Creed III Age Rating of the Movie: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Creed III has a PG-13 rating for intense sports action, violence, and snippets of language and is recommended for an adult audience and teens 13 and older. Suggestion of parental guidance or an adult guardian is highly suggested for younger kids under 13 years of age. There is no drug use content, no sexual content, and no sexually-oriented nudity or brief nudity.
Overall Thoughts
Creed III is the third installment in the franchise and marks Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut. While the first two films continue the path that Rocky Balboa set, the sequel takes a turn and steps out of Rocky’s shadow, even excluding Sylvester Stallone from the film. Stallone is still a producer on the film and has stated he did not join the third sequel because he did not like the direction the script was taking, which focused more on Adonis’ story. To be fair, Stallone has addressed concerns about his departure from the franchise, stating that his absence in the film does not mean he is abandoning it but rather that “Michael [B. Jordan] is telling a story, highly personal, but there’s no room for me…. It’s a whole different point of view than Rocky’s point of view,” which is accurate, and after viewing the new film, having Rocky present wouldn’t make sense to the overall story and would have felt like a forced presence.
One of the best parts about Creed III was the acting. Michael B. Jordan has settled into his role as Adonis Creed and appears more natural and confident this time out, which benefits the character himself, as he has now had a successful boxing career, proving he deserves the respect in the ring and everything he has worked so hard for. Tessa Thompson, who plays his wife Bianca, and their daughter Amara (Davis-Kent), who inherited her mother’s condition and is deaf, certainly aided Jordan’s performance and brought out the more tender moments in the film. However, the standout performance was given by none other than Jonathan Majors, who plays a former boxing prodigy and Adonis’ old friend from childhood, Damian Anderson. Majors has been on an acting high, as he recently starred in the new Marvel film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, giving a masterful performance as the villain Kang and dominating every scene he is in in Creed III. The two rival boxers have great chemistry together and extremely tense moments when the script calls for them; however, this author would have preferred more backstory to add depth to Major’s character and fully capture the pain and loneliness he has suffered during his time apart from Adonis. The lead-up to their friendship and rivalry felt very rushed and did not allow the audience time to process it or fully invest in their relationship.
One of the biggest problems I’ve always had with the Creed films are the boxing scenes, which have always looked like a video game version of a boxing fight, and this still rings true in Creed III. However, there is one particular scene in the last boxing match that is brilliantly done, showcasing the boxers as the backgrounds begin to fade and disappear, allowing viewers to solely focus on the two rivals and their intense internal battles played out with every punch. Some of the cinematography shots also reflect these battles, as shown in a moment where Adonis is leaving Damian’s locker room and both stop for a minute to take in the moment, with a wall separating them, each basking in light, one dark and one light.
Overall, I wouldn’t put Creed III at the top of the list of this franchise’s movies; Creed (2015) still reigns supreme, but I found it to be better than the second film as far as storyline, arc, and villain (if you want to call Damian a villain). It is about friendships forged in fire, overcoming demons, and moving on from the past. Fans of the Rocky and Creed franchise alike will find much more to enjoy about this entry than things to nitpick. Sure, it’s a bit bland of a script, but it’s a tried and true formula that continues to work, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
