Michael B Jordan took on the role of director as well as starring actor in the third film of the Creed series “Creed III.” Jordan revives his character as Adonis Creed, son of legendary boxer Apollo Creed in an exciting, emotional movie. The film features Adonis coming out of his retirement and closing out his boxing career with a match against childhood friend, Damian Anderson, (Jonathan Majors) who viewers found out became a foe to Adonis.

While the movie featured many iconic fight scenes, the film was heavily focused on the emotional side of Adonis and his balance between his childhood trauma and newly formed family which includes his wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent).

The film begins with a flashback to a moment during Adonis’ childhood including one of his good friends which results in the boys physically assaulting a man. Adonis gets away but his friend Damian Anderson gets locked up. After 18 years, Anderson locates bigshot Adonis and realizes how much better Adonis’ life became while he was incarcerated. While the reunion comes off as a wholesome meeting of two best friends, it is quickly revealed that Anderson is looking for something in return from Creed since he was the one who took the fall for him.

Adonis steps back to his roots and enters the ring after many months of training and heartache to take on the one person who caused him so much pain and regret. The movie is not solely focused on fighting despite it being a sports film but instead focuses on the ideas of brotherhood, pain, and emotional healing. Even the fight scenes show flashbacks to one of the most intense, life-altering moments in Adonis’s childhood which ultimately led to his return to the ring. 

Despite the fighting and journey of healing, many parts of the movie focus on the relationship Adonis has with his daughter and wife. His daughter is deaf and only communicates in sign language. She begins to show an interest in her dad’s fighting and even gets him to teach her some moves. Meanwhile, Adonis and his wife argue about how Adonis seems to solve all his emotional problems through physical violence. While Bianca thinks he should talk more about his emotions, Adonis struggles to understand this because he was raised to fight his feelings out.

Ultimately, the movie ends on a positive note and leaves viewers with a feeling of hope and motivation. Michael B Jordan has confirmed a fourth “Creed” movie which will most likely be directed by him due to the overwhelming success of his first directed movie.