The beginning of a new chapter in the Rocky franchise, Creed III is a riveting film that came out on March 3 of this year in movie theaters worldwide.

After the news about Sylvester Stallone’s (the actor of the infamous Rocky Balboa) decision not to be a part of the third installment of the creed series surfaced, many fans showed immense concern about the film and how it will affect the Rocky franchise. But upon the film’s release, these concerns came to a surprising halt. One franchise fan who goes by the name Cinemassacre on youtube acknowledged concern for the series since Rocky is not in this film, but after watching it, he believes that the film can stand on its legs without the character who started it all. 

“[Creed III is the ninth film] in the Rocky series, but the first one without Rocky, some might be concerned, can the series stand on its own legs without the character who started it all.” says YouTuber, Cinemassacre.”The answer, in my opinion, of course, is a big yes.”

Micheal B Jordan’s debut as a director for the movie creed III might have been a shocker to some fans of the rocky series, but he did a fantastic job. He did an excellent job conveying the idea of forgiveness between the two main characters in the movie. 

*SPOILER ALERT* 

The plot goes as follows:

Damian Anderson (played by Jonathan Majors) and Adonis Creed (played by Micheal B Jordan) were childhood friends who considered themselves brothers. But after a street fight went wrong, Damian was arrested and served 18 years in prison while Adonis ran away and pursued boxing in the free world. After being freed, Damian feels robbed of his boxing career, so he takes a shot for the undisputed heavyweight championship. 

Throughout all of the fights in this movie, the best one by far was the moral one. The pain of running away and leaving his friend behind weighed heavily on adonis’ shoulders, and the only way to rid himself of this pain was to forgive himself.

Not only was the message in this movie amazing, but the acting was phenomenal. The choreography in this movie made every punch seem like it was landed for real, and the fights had me on the edge of my seat. One boxing fanatic named Tyler Skeen has come out to say in a written review that the choreography was off the charts. “As a boxing fanatic, I was riveted throughout, and the fight choreography was off the charts!” says Skeen, ”[I]Thought it was Unbelievably realistic and just sensational to see how gritty and true to form it was.”

I really enjoyed this movie, and I believe that it is a must-see for those who love watching character development in films. Jordan’s directing debut was a success, and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for the future.