By Jash Mody
The Creed franchise has been a popular and successful addition to the world of entertainment, and fans have been eagerly anticipating the release of Creed III. Directed by Michael B. Jordan and written by Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin, the movie is set to continue the story of Adonis Creed, the son of legendary boxer, Apollo Creed.
The release date for this movie was March 3, and it has generated $58.7 million in North America on opening weekend, exceeding expectations of critics and making it the biggest domestic opening for a sports movie. Many previous actors from the franchise have returned for this movie including Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad and Florian Munteanu. Jonathan Major is the antagonist of the movie, which eventually leads to a major fight scene between him and the boxer trying to prove the worthiness of his name.
Artwork by Saffah Azeem
"Creed III" puts its boxing gloves on and fights its way to the top of the movie franchise.
Sylvester Stallone will not be appearing in the movie, as he stated in an interview, “it’s about his [Adonis Creed] family, about his dilemma and about his journey that has nothing to do with boxing.” This will be the first movie in this franchise of which Stallone has not been a part.
“The disappointment on my face when I read the news that Sylvester Stallone will not be in my favorite franchise was quite remarkable. Sylvester Stallone was the backbone of this series, and he was the reason why I originally wanted to box,” sophomore Devan Shah said.
“Sylvester Stallone was a key part of the Rocky Balboa and Creed franchise. However, him not being in the movie is perfectly fine. The story of Creed should be about Creed himself. Rocky is no longer relevant. Therefore, there is no need to add him into the movie. He also personally refused to be in the movie,” junior Varun Devjani said.
The plot of the movie begins by showing the life of the champion, Adonis Creed, after he retired. The movie portrays his progression of building new fighters in his home life with his wife and daughter. Later as Damian Anderson was first introduced, the audience gets a deeper introduction into the past life of Adonis and how he struggled with gang violence. As Damien is released from prison, he demands for Adonis to make a World Champion as this was his original dream.
“Creed III was a very entertaining and enjoyable movie. Personally, I enjoyed the fighting montages and seeing Jonathan Majors and Michael B. Jordan in the ring together. I believe the movie was well-crafted, especially the scenes with Creed’s deaf daughter,” sophomore Naman Maniar said.
Although some elements of the trilogy were altered, ultimately the movie prospered in the box office and at NHP Memorial.