credit: Creed III
Something tells me that this movie is going to go deeper than it might appear in the trailer thus far, but Creed III is already giving appearances that Jonathan Majors’ character is going to be racing toward Adonis Creed with a great deal of resentment for a life that he thinks should be his. In other words, it feels like a story that will come down to one friend thinking that he was locked up for so long and denied a life that should have been his because he possessed more natural skills.
Apart from that, it feels like another chance for Adonis to evolve and experience life in a manner that suggests that he’s getting older, he’s hopefully getting wiser, and learning that he’s proven just about everything he has to prove. But with the emergence of an old friend that obviously thinks that he’s owed something for his lost time and opportunities, Adonis is taking on another challenge that will threaten the life that he’s built. There’s just a lot to think about when it comes to this story idea, especially since it sounds like a case of sour grapes, no matter what happened.
credit: Creed III
On the upside, Adonis’ story appears to be different enough from Rocky’s.
If one is paying attention, it would appear that Adonis is following a similar rise in his career that Rocky experienced, but his story is still different in a lot of ways since Bianca isn’t Adrian, Adonis’ kid is not the same as Rocky’s, and their rise to prominence is just different enough to make this story take off in a different direction. At the same time, however, the apparent desire that Adonis has to move away from actively fighting others has happened in the Rocky movies before, and it would appear that it’s happening in the Creed story at this time. It’s the type of natural progression that makes sense, but so is the idea that a challenger might pop up and make trouble for Adonis when he thought everything was going the way it should.
An old friend popping up out of nowhere has been used as a plot device before.
It hasn’t been used in the Rocky franchise, but it has been used in many other movies since it’s a curveball that a lot of people still don’t see coming. In this manner, though, it does make Damian feel as though he’s simply using resentment toward his friend Adonis as a means to excuse his own bad behavior.
Many would stand up immediately to say that this isn’t right at all, that the antagonist has a serious and very real grudge to pick, and that’s where it needs to be said that there’s more to the story than what people have seen thus far. But on the surface, it does appear that Damian is seeking revenge for something that might have been his fault, which makes it tough to feel anything but a type of contempt for the antagonist, though it’s fair to think that some might believe that Damian is owed something and that he’s a far more sympathetic character than the trailer makes him out to be.
credit: Creed III
It feels as though Damian should be connected to Clubber Lang.
If that were the case, however, it does bear stating that this would still be a Rocky story as well, since Clubber’s son, if this had been the story, would no doubt be looking to target Rocky using Adonis as the pressure point. But this would appear to be between Adonis and Damian, and it doesn’t sound as though Rocky is going to be a part of it.
So as much as people want to see Rocky’s movies replayed in another manner, it doesn’t sound as though this will be the case. But if that’s how it’s going to go down, then it still makes Damian look like a man that has lamented the things he’s done in his past but is using a major excuse to fuel his hatred and his desire to get back at someone that has had the life he thinks should have been his.
How long is the Creed story going to last?
It would be a little more convincing if Creed didn’t last for six movies with the possibility of cultivating another boxer in the process since, at that point, it looks like a copycat that has had to build itself from Rocky’s example, even if it’s attempting to be different.
There’s no doubt that it would appear that Adonis’ story is going in a much different direction than Rocky’s, but there is a chance that his tale could become a little too similar to Rocky’s if things keep going in this general direction. While it’s not fair to hope that this movie will be the last, it is fair to think that it would be better served to stop when it’s deemed wise to do so.