Yours indeed happened to rewatch the very good and effective Creed III as of recent, Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut, where he tackles a darker story surrounding Adonis Creed’s childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Dame (played by Jonathan Majors), who wants to get back to his ambition of becoming a professional boxer after getting locked up in prison for nearly two decades due to a past incident involving Adonis. And despite the absence of Sylvester Stallone, Jordan managed to create a worthwhile setpiece for the next stage of his on-screen character’s growth.
However, as the title of this article suggests, perhaps Creed IV should serve as the swan song for this franchise and Stallone’s Rocky as well. And the indubitable question is, why cap off a stellar spin-off to the infamous boxing franchise?
Because how much more story can you wring out of Creed and Rocky before folks realize it’s another boxer that has some revenge/plot-injection “wanting to fight” quality in them? Maybe Clubber Lang’s son will fight Creed or his daughter, Amara. Maybe Rocky has one last ghost in the closet from Tommy Gunn’s family from the dreadful Rocky V? Maybe Rocky’s grandson and Creed’s daughter will train together in another bulky montage of a film to fight their own challenges?
And yes, little gags aside, there isn’t much further you can get from continuing on the same characters, experiencing their fair share of time and age, and expect to get new results. Rocky and Creed exemplified the “underdog” tales to a T. Rocky Balboa showcased how a legend, well past his prime, could return to form after years away. Rocky III and Creed II showcased how to overcome your new opponent by applying a different strategy in the wake of a personal falling out/tumble. And Rocky IV was a contrived attempt at insinuating the Cold War sentiments hadn’t quite passed yet, while honing in on a montage-heavy, revenge-driven fight between Rocky and a titan.
The series prides itself on doing the predictable shtick, one big battle to cap off the feature; kudos for the fifth installment of Rocky trying to do something out of the box, only for its execution to blow up in everyone’s face. But perhaps that is where the series needs to go, an unorthodox route if it wants to revel in a sense of freshness that’s necessary before becoming another monotonous key (think Terminator or Alien).
Maybe Creed IV marks the official last ride for Stallone, as his character has become frail and cannot operate any further. Maybe Adonis reunites with Dame to teach his daughter how to fight dirty on the streets (or the ring) to overcome her flaws. A mixed tag match boxing bout? Maybe an aging Adonis has no choice but to be the trainer for his daughter or another fighter? There is so much on the table to ooze out every bit of catharsis and sensation for one final ride for both characters.
Surely we can be pedantic and nitpick the little things. Still, time might be running out for the infamous boxing characters, and there’s only so much further you can tell a gripping tale for everyone’s favorite Philadelphia boxer and the son of “The Master of Disaster” unless you abstain from the formula altogether.
