{"id":26131,"date":"2023-03-01T22:34:44","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T06:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=26131"},"modified":"2023-03-01T22:34:44","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T06:34:44","slug":"creed-iii-lands-a-few-punches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=26131","title":{"rendered":"CREED III Lands a Few Punches"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Running Time: 116 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from United Artists Releasing is premiering\nat movie theaters on Friday, March 3rd. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in 1976, the boxing drama Rocky<\/em> surprised audiences and became a surprise sensation, winning Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing. At the time, no one could have predicted how many additional films it would inspire. After five sequels to the original title, a new spin-off series emerged. This one details the life of boxer Adonis Creed, son of the character who Rocky Balboa fought in the first two movies. Both Creed<\/em> and Creed II <\/em>were surprisingly effective and included some exciting boxing sequences to boot. The latest chapter, Creed III,<\/em> has several plot holes and doesn\u2019t even feature Balboa, but the central plotline is unique enough to keep fans entertained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The film begins with Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) retired\nafter enjoying success as Heavyweight Champion. While living a life of luxury\nwith wife Bianca Taylor (Tessa Thompson) and daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent),\nhe keeps busy running the Delphi Academy, that school that has trained current\ntitle holder Felix Chavez (Jose Benavidez). Unfortunately, Adonis\u2019 well-being\nis tested with the unexpected arrival of a figure from his childhood. Having\njust been released from prison, Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors) shows up\nasking that Adonis launch his career. The two share a secret about the arrest many\nyears prior, and the lead ultimately feels obligated to help out.\nUnfortunately, Anderson turns out to be a violent and underhanded pugilist. When\nAdonis realizes that he has been taken advantage of, he comes to the conclusion\nthat he may have to reenter the ring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The central concept is a good one and its interesting to see the confident Adonis deal with feelings of guilt remorse as he works his way through a complicated past and personal history. Jordan has a lot of material to work with in this tale and his interactions with Anderson are intriguing. Majors also does well in the role of Anderson. Frustrated and angry over losing his career prospects and being left behind while serving time, he makes an impression. Low-angle shots of the boxer help create an intimidating and foreboding presence so that he seems to, at times, tower over the lead. This is a figure who simply wants to cause pain and damage to his foes. When the two leads share the screen together trading both barbs and blows, there is a great deal of suspense and everything is appropriately tense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sequences in the ring are also well photographed. Like every\nother boxing movie, the characters seemingly throw nothing but haymakers (while\nthe more common jabs are used sparingly here), but the approach does create excitement\nand drama in the ring. Jordan, who has stepped behind the camera as director on\nthis sequel, also attempts to add a little bit of creative flair during the\nclimactic battle, employing some unique backdrops to the action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But while these aspects generally work, there are story issues.\nIt is revealed that Adonis\u2019 mother Mary-Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad) knows far\nmore about Anderson than she lets on. In fact, she withholds important information\nthat would have changed the course of events. Her decision not to speak up earlier\nis a real stretch and difficult to believe. Another subplot involving daughter\nAmara involves a bullying situation at school. There is conflict between Adonis\nand Bianca over how to handle the child\u2019s attempts to stand up for herself, but\nnothing is resolved in a satisfying manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, there are issues with the secondary story threads, as\nwell as a reveal that is better ignored than pondered over. Yet the movie does present\nsome thrills between the hero and antagonist, as well as well-shot and edited boxing\nscenes. The movie isn\u2019t fantastic, but is better than many would expect given\nthat it is the ninth title in an extended franchise. So, while Creed III<\/em>\nisn\u2019t necessarily a knockout, it does land a few punches. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 116 minutes This feature from United Artists Releasing is premiering at movie theaters on Friday, March 3rd. Back in 1976, the boxing drama Rocky surprised audiences and became a surprise sensation, winning Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing. At the time, no one could have predicted how many additional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":26132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[213,756,3368,4884,4886,4888,4889,4890,4891,7810,11000,13756,17250,17252,18035,18856,19777],"class_list":["post-26131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-213","tag-adonis-creed","tag-boxing","tag-creed","tag-creed-3","tag-creed-iii","tag-creed-iii-film-review","tag-creed-iii-movie-review","tag-creed-iii-review","tag-franchise","tag-jonathan-majors","tag-michael-b-jordan","tag-rocky","tag-rocky-balboa","tag-sequel","tag-spin-off","tag-tessa-thompson"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}