Three years after leaving the ring in full glory, Adonis Creed lives peaceful days in his Californian villa, overlooking Los Angeles. But here comes Damien “Dame” Anderson, a friend, almost a brother, from the difficult adolescence of the star boxer. And this past that Adonis tried to forget to rebound like a dark tide. After a disappointing second installment, Creed III (VF) marks a return to form for the saga.
Released in 2015, Creed won over just about everyone with its electrifying and redeeming tale of the illegitimate son of the late Apollo Creed, Rocky Balboa’s rival and then friend in the original saga. Directed and co-written by Ryan Coogler, en route to Black Panther (Black Panther), Creed remains a superior sports drama in every way.
Directed by Steven Kaple Jr. (whose next film is 7e transformers…) and co-written by an obviously nostalgic Sylvester Stallone, Creed IIwhich brought back Ivan Drago from the very kitsch Rocky IVwas not of the same stamp.
Knowing this, we are relieved to note that Sylvester Stallone had the wisdom to leave the cinematographic destinies of Adonis Creed to his interpreter, Michael B. Jordan, who is directing this film. Zach Bailin and Keenan Coogler are co-writing the screenplay, based on a story imagined by Ryan Coogler.
In short, we are closer to the first than to the second film, and that’s good.
Extra depth
The two main advantages of Creed III are in this case the protagonist and the antagonist. Indeed, although the film does not reach the same level of excellence as the first, it remains that it is the one where Michael B. Jordan delivers his most inhabited, most complex performance. By revisiting the adolescence of Adonis, this third opus adds an extra depth to the character, which was already not lacking. His family life, where he cuddles his famous wife singer (Tessa Thompson) and their daughter (Mila Davis-Kent), with whom he chats in sign language, is also wonderfully sketched.
As for Dame, he is not the caricature villain that were, for example, the father and son Drago (who returns for a friendly tour). On the contrary, his feeling of injustice is, at least in part, legitimate. Recently released from prison, Dame wants only one thing: to enter the ring in order to annihilate anyone who will face her, preferably Adonis. Adonis who, according to Lady, leads the existence that should have been his.
Again, the fights are incredibly dynamic and punctuated by slow motion and very close-ups that amplify the immersive effect. However, we regret this passage towards abstraction, during the final confrontation, where the crowd disappears and where Adonis and Lady find themselves in a kind of no man’s land : they are alone in front of themselves, you understand? This sudden touch of clumsy symbolism, which swears all the more that it is the only one in the film, momentarily tears us away from the fiction rather than plunging us into it further. Fortunately, it doesn’t last.
Opposite paths
What works from start to finish, however, is the way the film contrasts the respective paths of Adonis and Lady. In that they come more or less from the same place, from the same pain, but have chosen different paths. Adonis opted for the step forward and resilience, while Marine Lady in sourness and harbors vengeful designs.
In the role of Dame, Jonathan Majors, seen recently in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Ant-Man and the Wasp. Quantumania), is of rare intensity. Looking vaguely imperious, vaguely threatening, he strikes each seemingly innocuous reply, but laden with innuendo, like a vicious blow.
Moreover, perhaps the main fault of the film is the naivety of Adonis with regard to the real intentions of Dame: it is big, big, big, and neither the kindness nor the feeling of guilt of Adonis , are not enough to make the latter’s blindness credible — however voluntary it may be.
For the account, we know from the outset how all this will unfold and culminate, but it is carried out without downtime, with conviction, and above all, a lot of talent.