Creed III

Any praise that's given towards Jonathan Majors is only for his performance in Creed III given his allegations were after seeing the movie. The third Creed and ninth in the Rocky franchise, Michael B. Jordan follows in Sylvester Stallone's footsteps by directing this entry, though it's the first that Stallone doesn't appear in, but still staying as producer due to a feud with longtime producer Irwin Winkler. A few years after retiring from boxing, Adonis Creed takes care of his family while running his own gym wherein he promotes an aspiring new fighter. Adonis soon reunites with his old childhood friend, Damian, who was recently released from prison after serving two decades for an incident wherein he saved Adonis. Damian wants to take a shot at the championship, to which Adonis eventually reluctantly agrees to and has him fight his new boxer. Due to his ruthless and dirty tactics, Damian wins but it inspires Adonis to get back in the game to not only battle his guilt of never visiting him in prison but also try to get through to his old friend. Michael B. Jordan's directorial debut is astounding as he puts together a powerful script, whose story was co-created by first entry director Ryan Coogler, has him and the rest of the cast give strong performances, gives one of the best looks and astounding choreography and editing that the franchise has ever done, and provides incredible music. With Jordan being an avid anime fan, you can definitely see that through how he shoots the boxing scenes with such an imaginative and insightful eye. His performance is just as powerful as his direction, in fact if not even better then what he did in the previous two entries. Majors's performance makes you feel for Damian and manages to make him sympathetic even while he's being the type of antagonist you should loathe. Tessa Thompson and Mila Davis-Kent both portray their roles as wife and daughter to such a believable degree. But the biggest draw comes from Phylicia Rashad as Adonis's adopted mother who gives her strongest portrayal since 1976. A lot of Jordan's work wouldn't work without the incredible cinematography of Kramer Morgenthau, precise editing of Tyler Nelson and Jessica Baclesse, and powerful music by Joseph Shirley. Even after being around for almost fifty years, Creed III proves that the Rocky franchise is capable of great surprises. Over all: 100%

2023 top list so far:

1. Creed III

2. M3GAN

3. Cocaine Bear

4. Knock at the Cabin

5. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania