Creed III Keeps The Rocky Legacy Alive
The past few weeks have been mayhem in Press Break Country with my wife’s birthday and a bevy of items to cross off the do-to list ahead of March Madness — which, for my intents and purposes, is already underway.
I write this edition of the newsletter from the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C., at the first full day of the Colonial Athletic Association Championship. The trek to our nation’s capital kicks off a month of travel and torrent of basketball for your humble author, and it’s like a five-week Christmas. I mean that not as a cliche, but a true reflection of the childlike giddiness March Madness sparks in me.
The NCAA Tournament is the first sporting event I remember falling in love with as a kid, and that same earnest excitement always return for me each year, no matter how cynical and jaded I might be the other 11 months.
Anyway, in preparation for my trip to D.C. — and before taking my wife to Mean Girls: The Musical as a birthday gift; two thumbs up! — I visited my barber to get freshened up. One of the shop’s TVs was tuned to AMC and an airing of Rocky III.
In much the same way the NCAA Tournament was the first sporting event that made a real, lasting impression on me, Rocky III hit every note I wanted from a film when I first saw it as an adolescent.
Rocky III was the first in the franchise I watched, catching a Saturday night airing on TV when I was in sixth grade. Based on my age and the tone of the third in the Rocky series, it was right in the sweet spot to appeal to me.
Rocky facing a young Hulk Hogan in an exhibition match? Clubber Lang built up like a damn comic-book villain? Apollo Creed’s face-turn to train Rocky Balboa through some pitch-perfect montages? It’s as if the movie was made with a 12-year-old me in mind specifically.
I later came to appreciate Rocky as the masterpiece it is and the superior film, but for a long time, III was my favorite entry. Seeing a portion in the barber’s chair brought back those youthful memories.
Now, I’d already planned to see Creed III during my limited downtime in D.C. As a father of three, getting to the movies for something that isn’t a children’s film is exceedingly difficult these days — though, to be fair, some of the best movies I saw in 2022 were targeted at kids, Lightyear and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
Still, I love going to the cinema and miss being able to take in any film of my choosing. Any time I’m out of town for work flying solo, I make it a point to map out nearby theaters and see a movie.
Creed III on opening night? At an Alamo Drafthouse? No-brainer!
That I saw in at an Alamo specifically made the experience that much better thanks to the curated pre-show that included clips from Rocky III, refreshers on Creed and Creed II, and a music video by Clubber Lang himself, Mr. T, that encapsulates early ‘80s cheesy yet earnest pop culture.
As for the movie itself, some background: I love the first two installments in the Creed series — sequels to Rocky yet their own, self-contained films. The first Creed is, like the original Rocky, a genuine masterpiece that deserved Academy Award consideration.
Creed II doesn’t live up to Creed, but is a far more worthy successor than Rocky II was to Rocky. It’s a fun popcorn movie that pays homage to a fan-favorite in the Rocky franchise but offers enough depth to be more than just empty fan service1.
Creed III is the first of the Michael B. Jordan-starred series that, minus a few quick references to Rocky and Apollo, feels like its own movie completely independent of the Rocky franchise. And that’s a positive!
Perhaps it’s coincidence, but this being the first that Jordan also directed may explain the direction. Whatever the reason, it works.
The film as a whole works, too. While not at the quality of the original Creed, the third installment is an entertaining watch with emotional performances. Were I a 12-year-old seeing this movie for the first time, it would appeal to me as Rocky III did years ago.
Jonathan Majors as the ostensible antagonist, “Diamond” Dame Anderson, is especially excellent.
The 1980s trope of villains being pure evil without depth doesn’t work in modern cinema; it’s one reason that, aside from being completely ahistoric, the 2005 boxing film Cinderella Man attempting to depict Max Baer as 1930s Clubber Lang detracts from the entire movie.
“Diamond” Dame has the moments of villainy necessary to invest in the storyline, but he’s also a sympathetic character. Majors manages to navigate both elements beautifully.
His performance and the dynamics between Jordan and Tessa Thompson lend emotional gravity to balance the intense action sequences. And — oh, my — those action sequences.
Filmmaking at some point in the last 20 years seemingly became embarrassed of action. Sure, action still exists as a genre. But, unless you venture out of Hollywood for international cinema like The Raid: Redemption or last year’s RRR, the mainstream action genre has existed almost exclusively as campy, even self-consciously over-the-top through the Marvel and Fast franchises.
Certainly ‘80s filmmaking had its flaws, but one area in which it was so much better than present-day was its embrace of action that managed to be both fun and presented seriously within the framework of the story being told.
Creed III is a fitting parallel to Rocky III in its ability to strike this chord without undercutting its characters’ development.
I cannot recommend Creed III highly enough. It lands firmly in the Good category2 of the Rocky universe and stands alone nice on its own merits.
A trailer for The Fast & The Furious X rolled before my screening of Creed III and…ugh. I really enjoy the original film, despite being derivative of Point Break. However, the entire Fast franchise since its resurgence in 2011 has felt like Fan Service: The Movie.
The Good of the Rocky universe: Rocky, Rocky III, Rocky Balboa, Creed, Creed II, Creed III; The Bad: Rocky II, Rocky IV, Rocky V. Yes, I wrote it: Rocky IV stinks. Drago is a cool villain but the Cold War rhetoric is cringe, it’s a sub-90-minute movie that’s roughly a quarter musical montages, and this was from the era of Sylvester Stallone shoe-horning the obnoxious Brigitte Neilsen into his films (and, yes, I know Neilsen is in Creed II but that’s only for canon).