By Mark Fields
The Rocky mythology has persisted and entertained (off and on) for 45 years, and the latest entry, Creed III, is entertaining enough, while also showing some of the thread-bare tropes of this now fully-familiar tale. Michael B. Jordan continues his portrayal of Adonis Creed, who has parlayed his boxing prowess into a comfortable, affluent routine with his singer-producer wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and precocious daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent). This is rudely interrupted by a figure from Adonis’ troubled youth, Damien (Jonathan Majors). Adonis’ guilt over the different paths his and Damien’s lives have taken sets up a boxing match between the two aging athletes with history. Jordan also directs the film, and he understands the payoffs the audience is looking for: rousing training montages, personal issues spilling into the fight sequences, and numerous namechecks from the Rocky legend. This franchise is still standing, if staggering in the ring . . . we’ll have to wait a little longer before someone declares a TKO.
