Contrary to very favourable critical acclaim – there seemed to be something missing from Creed’s third outing.
Maybe it was the lack of Sly Stallone for the first time for anything connected with the Rocky franchise, the complete lack of unpredictability, or it feeling a little too familiar in terms of the boxing elements.
But arguably most griping was the fact that boxing’s world heavyweight championship just didn’t seem as grandiose as it should be?
Don’t get me wrong, this is still a solid addition to the series – with main star Michael B Jordan helming his first major movie – but it never really got out of third gear.
Having retired as heavyweight champ, Adonis ‘Donnie’ Creed (Jordan) now runs a boxing academy with his coach Tony ‘Little Duke’ Evers Jr (Wood Harris) – taking more time out to focus on his music producer wife Bianca (Thor star Tessa Thompson), and their deaf daughter Amara (Mila Davis Kent).
But his seemingly less complicated life gets turned upside down when his childhood best friend Damian ‘Dame’ Anderson (Jonathan ‘Kang’ Majors) – a former amateur ‘Golden Gloves’ boxing prodigy – appears out of the blue after serving 18 years in prison.
That was due to Dame wielding a gun during a liquor store skirmish that Donnie instigated when they were youths – which leaves Donnie feeling reluctantly inclined to help his old friend at his gym.
Donnie is currently in the midst of promoting a world title bout between his young protégé champ Felix ‘El Guerrero’ Chavez (Jose Benavidez Jr) and his former adversary Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), but when Viktor is attacked, injured and unable to participate in the major fight – Donnie inexplicably does the unthinkable and slots Dame into the match after being ‘guilt tripped’. Which just wouldn’t happen.
But not all is what it seems with his former ‘brother’ and – without plot-spoiling – leads to the inevitable showpiece boxing battle between Donnie/Dame, in a rather rushed final third. It seems to come together overnight rather than the usual 4-6 months lead-in, which some will let slide.
The second Creed sequel doesn’t come without notable plaudits. It delves deeper into Donnie’s character, there’s more time allocated for Thompson, a spotlight on Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show) as Donnie’s ailing Mum, and Majors impresses – after pretty much saving Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania – by showing his acting range yet again. Jordan also uses a few laudable slo-mo techniques during the final showdown too.
And there’s a notable West Coast rap-inspired soundtrack too, despite the movie missing the familiar Rocky ‘beats’.
Sadly, as aforementioned it just feels like there’s something lacking as Adonis/Dame doesn’t quite feel like Rocky/Apollo, Rocky/Clubber or Rocky/Drago. Or even Adonis/Conlan or Adonis/Drago from the first two Creed films.
It still connects with a few noteworthy punches, but definitely doesn’t deliver the knockout blow it threatened to land – and is arguably the weakest out of the three Creed films so far.
ESP Rating: 3/5
Gavin Miller
Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough, Out Now
Cast: Michael B Jordan, Jonathan Majors, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Jose Benavidez Jr, Wood Harris, Florian Munteanu, Mila Davis-Kent & Tony Bellew
Director: Michael B Jordan
Go to www.showcasecinemas.co.uk for all the latest film information & showtimes at Peterborough’s Showcase Cinema De Lux
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