Where I Watched It: Amazon

English Audio Description?: Yes

i had heard some truly terrific things about Creed 3 heading into my chance to see it, so the bar was high. I didn’t factor Jonathan Majors personal life into the film, because movies are a collection of the work of hundreds of people, and we have to stop doing that. There are plenty of people who do stunts, costumes, sound design, set design, and hell, just plain old production assistant work, who deserve to show their job to the world without everyone feeling like they can’t watch it because of one person. you know, if someone working craft services on a film was a child molester, we would never hear about it, and it could be your favorite film. but you wouldn’t know. Because Joe Schmo isn’t famous, but Jonathan Majors is.

I still think this is the weakest Creed. It’s clearly continuing to evolve the franchise, as we now move into an Adonis centric world, with no Rocky, and even his mom continues to have reduced screentime. Hell, Tessa Thompson felt like her screentime here was down from the last two films. but, instead, Wood Harris has never had more to do as Adonis’s trainer, and Adonis’s daughter is now of an age where she can have things to do. Like learn how to box.

How does Majors factor in? Way back in the day, when Adonis has a misspent youth, his older friend was rising in the world of boxing, until a fateful day where tragedy and violence struck, and majors ended up behind bars, where he’s been watching Adonis rise to superstar levels of fame. Now, majors is out, and at first it seems like he wants to reconnect, but this film needs a villain, and since Creed and Drago are now buddies, it’s gotta be his homeboy.

That’s the film in a nutshell. What worked? Michael B jordan has always been electric in this role, and he and Tessa Thompson have blazed this new franchise together, using their charisma and chemistry. Here, it’s all charisma, as Thompson feels a little sidelined. Sure, she has her moments, like how she discusses preserving the last bit of her hearing versus pursuing being a music artist, and later a tough conversation with Adonis, but it’s not the same. That love that permeated the first two films is just assumed here, with this new age look that relationships go through struggles, and it’s not always about an intense connection I suppose.

Meanwhile, instead of just showing us the damn event in the past, we are constantly transported in pieces back through time. Just show us the thing. it was so distracting as we broke every so often for a brief piece of the flashback puzzle. It’s one of the more confusing directorial choices jordan made here (in his directorial debut), and it puts a distance between him and original director Ryan Coogler, who is a phenom.

In the middle, we did have Steven Cable Jr, who felt like he spent a great deal of time watching the original creed, and did a fairly decent job directing in a style similar to Coogler. it’s possible, if you didn’t know the director changed, you might think Creed 2 was made by Coogler. you won’t make that mistake here.

I was much less invested in majors than any previous Creed adversary, and while this sequel brings drago into the fold, I’m not sure if a fourth film would forgive majors. Does he also have a place on Team Creed? Is the past now officially in the past? Majors, for me, has never quite lived up to the potential he had in Lovecraft Country. He’s never been the most interesting person or thing in his films, from playing Kang, to last years Devotion (which had the unfortunate task of being a Top Gun-esque film in the same year as Maverick). he certainly didn’t steal Da Five Bloods, as Delroy Lindo stakes that claim.

The movie is well audio described during the fight sequences, as it should be. it makes a valiant effort to describe people’s wardrobe choices, like in one of Major’s entrances, he’s wearing a hoodie with the hood up. but where the audio description is most needed is for the amount of ASL in the film. Creed’s daughter is deaf, and non-verbal. But, she’s now of an age where she can talk, and people talk to her. Even majors, before taking his villainous turn,, uses ASL to communicate with Amaya. Of course, all of this would be missed if we didn’t have AD. While some of the other actors speak while saying their ASL, Amaya does not, so without audio description, we would never know what this child is thinking.

I love the first Creed, and I think it deserved a lot more awards attention than just Stallone. I probably would have nominated Jordan for the first film. I also think Creed 2 is a really strong successor. Creed 3 isn’t bad, but it’s the first time where i can’t say an entry here is excellent, but just good. not great, just good. Jordan likely will always keep this franchise interesting, and while he does give this movie an ending that hints at finality, I’m sure a 4th is on the way. Maybe Cable or Coogler could direct it.

Final Grade: B