After five years, the much-anticipated conclusion to the creed trilogy is finally here. Michael B. Jordan is back in his role as champion fighter Adonis Creed. Apart from starring in front of the camera, he also went behind the camera and directed it. 2023 breakout star Johnathan Majors plays Damien, the antagonist in the movie. Tessa Thompson is also back as Bianca Creed. One person who isn’t returning, however, is Rocky himself, Sylvester Stallone. This is the first movie in the franchise without him which raises the question: is it good?

Overall, it’s a solid conclusion to the trilogy. We collectively agreed upon a rating of 7.5 out of 10 stars. While this may not look like an extremely high rating, our rationale was that it doesn’t make the trilogy better or worse, yet it provides something unique and progresses the story to a good ending. The acting is phenomenal. Michael B. Jordan brings his A game. Jonathan Majors is incredible. He brings serious passion to the role. At the start, he did everything to make the audience feel for his side of the story. He reeled us in and then completely switched sides after the first fight. He truly stole the show. The acting of Creed’s family is also top-notch.

The addition of Creed’s daughter growing up and Adonis taking on a larger role as a family man was a great transition of the character’s role. The movie also brought representation to hearing loss and deafness with Adonis, his daughter, and Bianca using sign language for a significant portion of the film.

The cinematography of the film was amazing, and the unique shots of Creed III gave this film a different aesthetic than the previous two films. This was partly because the movie had heavy inspiration from Anime, with Michael B. Jordan said that especially Naruto had a big impact on the film.

One scene to note is the final fight scene. We agreed that the editing of the fans being zoned out was a nice touch, but lasted for too long. It practically is the entire fight.

Overall, the biggest problem is the rushed plot. In our opinion, there wasn’t enough plot to explain why Creed should unretire and fight Damian. There was also little pushback from anyone around him. For such an important decision, it was quickly decided. There was little build-up to them actually fighting as well. After all, the training scenes of these movies are the best part. For most of the movie, Creed was on Damian’s side. There was a five-minute stretch where he wasn’t, then suddenly they were fighting. If the movie was a little longer, the fight would’ve been more satisfying to the viewer.

Also, the absence of Sylvester Stallone definitely hurt the story. He brought so much heart to the other movies and simply couldn’t be replaced in this film. Despite this, there’s still a lot to love about this movie. While it might be the worst of the Creed movies made, it’s definitely worth watching, and it doesn’t ruin the franchise.