Disclaimer: This movie review is a loose transcription from our podcast where we do all our movie reviews – link is at the bottom of this page to listen in!
James:
Alright, so then what do you think about just the overall thoughts?
Nayan:
I really enjoyed it. I think usually the third film in franchises is usually the weak link but I think this one is an exception as only Creed is the better film in terms of the franchise. I think this is definitely better than Creed II. A lot more emotional. I know the first creed film was about him trying to live up to his father’s name with the second one being about the comeback match with the Drago boxer that killed his father. So, this one just had more of an emotional backstory to it. Yeah it just felt more personal towards Adonis Creed than the other two did.
James:
I definitely agree with that. I do think the first one is the better of it. I think it’s more well-made and just polished. There are some things I would change about this one here. But I know it’s better than Creed II and one of the easy identifiers is that I don’t remember Creed II, it honestly left me as soon as I left the cinema for that movie. But it was still a solid film and I think the entire trilogy is just capped off by a wonderful movie here and you know, obviously, well done by Michael B. Jordan for leading the film and directing the film as well. I think one thing I didn’t like about this movie is that it was too short for me. It needed more of the conflict between Damien and Adonis Creed which came out of nowhere. Yeah, it kind of came up and then just, you know, there’s like a conversation between two characters where it’s like “oh, you need to fight him” and then, you know, there’s a training montage and then when we’re at the fight, that’s just the rushed that part of it and everything else I liked, but I think it just needed a little bit more in it.
Nayan:
Yeah, I thought the first two acts were paced nicely, and then as soon as the training montage came on, their training montage was fantastic. But like, you just get straight into the fight and then that’s when you like, come down from that high, they’re just suddenly into this now, there is no back and forth and there are things like promos of that throughout the training montage, but it’s like not in-depth or not enough.
James:
In terms of performances from Damian, who’s played by Jonathan Majors. What do you think about his entry into the franchise?
Nayan:
I think he’s fantastic! Dude, that guy is built to be a villain. He’s not like your typical villain, he’s menacing and sort of arrogant – but you can sort of get behind him, but then you also don’t want too.
James:
Yeah, yeah. There’s always that sympathetic piece about them where you kind of see where he’s coming from. But yeah, you just don’t agree with the way he’s kind of doing it. But I think I think at the end of the day, you know, those are the best kind of villains. So yeah, I thought just a really great antagonist in general and he does play the part really well. I just hope he’s not just going to become that guy in Hollywood who is just cast as the villain. I do want to see him as a hero. I think that could be quite interesting and I want to see some versatility, but we’ll see. But Michael B Jordan, you know, he’s directing here as well, and he’s the leading actor. So he’s kind of directing himself in a way but yeah, he’s got a massive role in the production of this film. How do you think he did compare to his other performances in the franchise?
Nayan:
I think there are pretty much all the same you know. That was like the emotions quite a bit. But other than that, he was just like, you know, as typical Michael B. Jordan Creed, you know, like, somewhat always the underdog. Yeah, like always trying to fight for something comes from and he just portrays that sort of underdog character really well.
James:
Yeah, he’s super solid. I wouldn’t go to the, to the point where I’d say, he’s like incredible in this role or anything. I think as you said, he just suits it really well and I think one of the best parts about it is he brings the physicality to a really intense kind of level. And that kinda, you know, elevates his performance without the emotions behind it, I guess. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, and you know, further to that, Tessa Thompson I think she’s fantastic in this I think this is probably her best role in the Creed franchise, and I’m glad they gave her a little bit more substance in this.
Nayan:
Yeah, I think it just kind of builds rounds out those characters a little bit more.
James:
On the technical side of things. What I will say about this is that the first Creed is still the best in terms of the technical side of the production of these kinds of movies. I thought this was good but it wasn’t great. It might even be the weakest of the Creed franchise. And I remember I was watching this movie and I remember specifically, a scene from the first Creed I don’t know if you remember it, but it’s one of the up-and-coming fights that Adonis Creed has and it’s just one shot and it’s all real – it’s just incredible. You don’t get anything like that in this kind of movie. CGI backgrounds where you know you can kind of see it at times and the focus in terms of the camera lens and stuff like that. I think it’s just sometimes distracting, but there are some awesome slo-mo moments and all that kind of stuff. So there is potential for Michael B Jordan as it seems he has an eye for this kind of stuff, but there’s also room for improvement. In terms of the score, how’d you find that?
Nayan:
I enjoyed it, I didn’t mind that it was pretty much the same as the other two Creed films. You didn’t get that hard, Rocky, iconic theme like in the first two forms, but it was still there, but it was just a lot more mellow down and a bit reworked. But yeah, it was very subtle. It definitely hit hard at the end, that’s for sure but I enjoyed it.
James:
I think the big talking point for this movie will be about Michael B. Jordan as the director. So the interesting factor of this movie is the director, so how do you think he fared and how do you think he will be in the future as a director?
Nayan:
I think he did a fantastic job in his debut. Obviously, this is a good first thing for them to pick up. If it was a completely brand new property that he hadn’t had any experience with him. That could be a bit different, but 91% on Rotten Tomatoes on his debut. That’s a very good step. That’s your first story.
James:
I agree, I think Creed III is a very safe pick for him for his first one. It is quite hard to make a legitimate assessment of his directorial debut because it’s the third one in a franchise that he’s extremely familiar with. I think for me to have perspective about him as a director going forward – I need to see him directing something that he’s not comfortable in. I think we just need to see him out of his comfort zone to really assist him as director. Yeah, but overall, we liked the movie. It’s not the best in the Creed franchise, but it’s an extremely solid entry into the Creed franchise and the Rocky franchise as a whole. So yeah, what are your final thoughts out of 10 – What would you give this one?
Nayan:
I would give this an 8.1 out of 10.
James:
Damn an 8.1. Okay well, I’m gonna go with a 7 out of 10.
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