Creed III - The scoop and digest

The product of Apollo's infidelity laces up gloves for directorial debut.

Michael B. Jordan - Adonis Creed

Tessa Thompson - Bianca Creed

Jonathan Majors - Damian Anderson

Wood Harris - "Little" Duke Evans

Phylicia Rashad - Mary Anne Creed

Summary

Los Angeles

2002

After easily winning an underground boxing match, "Diamond" Dame Anderson tells his friend Donnie that one day he intends to turn professional and become champion.

South Africa

15 years later

Donnie avenges points defeat to Ricky Conlan by knocking him out in the final round.

Los Angeles

Present day

Current champion Felix Chavez is preparing to face Viktor Drago.

Donnie's retirement is complicated by Dame showing up after serving 18 years in prison, with teenage ambition still burning bright.

An unknown assailant assaulting Drago in a bar puts fight in jeopardy, so Chavez takes on Dame instead.

Dame wins, but fights dirty.

Donnie challenges him for the heavyweight championship on national television, which he accepts.

Killmonger vs Kang

Due to creative differences and ongoing feud with Irvin Winkler over rights, Stallone doesn't feature.

Omission is not a knockout blow.

However, using the notoriously bad Rocky V as template confuses.

Jordan and Majors share nice chemistry, but making Dame a total asshole shortly after he becomes champ didn't work.

Although the last half hour was rushed, Jordan's love for anime (primarily Dragon Ball Z) shines through, and inevitable showdown is beautifully shot by cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau.

And yeah, the influence of Raging Bull rings a bell.

Let's dig deep.

Donnie's age in Creed is left ambiguous, but sequel (set in 2018), confirms he's 28, so born 1990.

That means Ms. Johnson's pregnancy lasted for about 3.5 years.

HA HA HA!

Anyway, story kicks off in 2002, with Thaddeus J. Mixon (replacing Alex Henderson) portraying Donnie aged 15 (meaning he was born in 1987).

One can only assume they realised how stupid sequel was and retconned age.

But alternative reality is still wrong, as year should be 1986.

What the FUCK?

All they had to do was change year to 2001 and then jump 16 years later.

But even then, unnecessary rematch with Conlan takes place in 2017, and said to be Donnie's last fight.

Amazing really, considering this part is set before the events of Creed II.