by Josh Sewell
Creed III
(Rated PG-13 for intense sports action, violence and some strong language. Opens in theaters on March 3.)
Come on, Michael B. Jordan. It’s not enough to be a ridiculously handsome, talented actor? Now you turn out to be a really good director too? Leave something for the rest of us, man.
Kidding aside, I have to admit I was nervous when I heard Jordan was continuing the Creed franchise when the previous installment worked as a perfect conclusion to the series. I was even more concerned once I learned he was using Creed III to make his directorial debut even though Sylvester Stallone wasn’t coming back – meaning this would be the first movie in the decades-spanning franchise without Rocky Balboa.
Turns out I had nothing to worry about. While it doesn’t live up to the first Creed (a high bar, considering Ryan Coogler’s 2015 film is darn near perfect), Jordan’s take on the titular character feels like the first time he’s on his own, rather than living in the shadows of Rocky and Apollo.
The story is simple, yet effective: Adonis Creed (Jordan) is happily retired from boxing, going out on top and spending his time supporting wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson) in her music career and raising their daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent). But that changes when his childhood friend Damian (Jonathan Majors) gets out of prison after two decades and declares he wants a shot at the title. Their relationship quickly fractures, and the former champ must risk his belt in order to stop Damian’s path of destruction.
Jordan’s decision to focus more on Adonis’ life outside the ring makes his inevitable decision to fight his old friend even more dramatic. That’s because he stages the boxing sequences in a creative, audacious way that sets them apart from anything audiences have seen in previous Rocky and Creed films.
The actor-director is a fan of anime, and his appreciation of the genre shines through, especially in the final bout between Adonis and Damian. I almost never talk during movies, but when the traditional boxing ring turned into something far more unexpected, I couldn’t help but utter an “oh, wow!” under my breath. It serves as both a way to fast-forward the fight (since the movie can’t show all 12 rounds in real time) and a reminder of the emotional baggage both characters are struggling with.
Rather than drag out Adonis’ story to unnecessary lengths (which Stallone did to Rocky with some of the lesser sequels), Jordan and screenwriters Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin have opened up the character’s world even more. As a result, I wouldn’t mind seeing where the franchise takes us in the future – something I didn’t expect before watching Creed III.
Grade: B
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre
(Rated R for language and violence. Opens in theaters on March 3.)
Operation Fortune, the latest spy yarn from director Guy Ritchie, falls victim to the same issue that plagues much of his work: it never figures out exactly what kind of movie it wants to be. Is it a Pierce Brosnan-era Bond flick? A “putting the team together” caper like the last few Mission: Impossible entries? A winking send-up like Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman franchise?
Or is it an action parody like Paul Feig’s Spy, which lovingly mocks the genre while also serving as a darn good example of it? That one definitely understands the impact of Jason Statham in comedy mode. Turns out the answer is a little of each, with the finished product feeling all over the place because of it.
In Ritchie’s film, super spy Orson Fortune (the aforementioned Statham) is tasked by his boss (Carey Elwes) with stopping the black-market sale of an apocalyptic new technology by an ostentatious billionaire arms broker (Hugh Grant). Along with some of the world’s best operatives (played by Aubrey Plaza and Bugzy Malone), Fortune must recruit a Hollywood megastar (Josh Hartnett) to help them save the world.
Based on the frequently confounding plot (credited to Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies), I suspect the director and his colleagues realize they never got a grasp on what they were aiming for. The McGuffin at the center of the narrative is barely explained, the team’s plan makes no logical sense and Hartnett’s character serves practically no purpose.
Each actor, although solid (except for Hartnett, who seems unsure why he’s there) appears to be in a different movie, which makes their scenes together jarring at best, puzzling at worst. Statham seems to be aiming for the character he played in Spy, but Feig is far better at comedy than Ritchie. As a result, the actor feels like a carbon copy of the guy he plays in the Fast and Furious movies.
Plaza and Grant are the clear standouts, apparently deciding they were just going to have fun and be weird no matter what. The choice paid off, considering the flick struggles even more when they’re not on screen.
Operation Fortune opened internationally in January and is doing quite well overseas, but it makes this weekend’s domestic release feel like an afterthought. Something tells me that you won’t have to wait long to watch this one at home. Its box office prospects aren’t promising (especially since it’s competing with Creed III and the third week of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), so look for it to begin streaming very soon.
Grade: C
(Rated PG-13 for intense sports action, violence and some strong language. Opens in theaters on March 3.)
Come on, Michael B. Jordan. It’s not enough to be a ridiculously handsome, talented actor? Now you turn out to be a really good director too? Leave something for the rest of us, man.
Kidding aside, I have to admit I was nervous when I heard Jordan was continuing the Creed franchise when the previous installment worked as a perfect conclusion to the series. I was even more concerned once I learned he was using Creed III to make his directorial debut even though Sylvester Stallone wasn’t coming back – meaning this would be the first movie in the decades-spanning franchise without Rocky Balboa.
Turns out I had nothing to worry about. While it doesn’t live up to the first Creed (a high bar, considering Ryan Coogler’s 2015 film is darn near perfect), Jordan’s take on the titular character feels like the first time he’s on his own, rather than living in the shadows of Rocky and Apollo.
The story is simple, yet effective: Adonis Creed (Jordan) is happily retired from boxing, going out on top and spending his time supporting wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson) in her music career and raising their daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent). But that changes when his childhood friend Damian (Jonathan Majors) gets out of prison after two decades and declares he wants a shot at the title. Their relationship quickly fractures, and the former champ must risk his belt in order to stop Damian’s path of destruction.
Jordan’s decision to focus more on Adonis’ life outside the ring makes his inevitable decision to fight his old friend even more dramatic. That’s because he stages the boxing sequences in a creative, audacious way that sets them apart from anything audiences have seen in previous Rocky and Creed films.
The actor-director is a fan of anime, and his appreciation of the genre shines through, especially in the final bout between Adonis and Damian. I almost never talk during movies, but when the traditional boxing ring turned into something far more unexpected, I couldn’t help but utter an “oh, wow!” under my breath. It serves as both a way to fast-forward the fight (since the movie can’t show all 12 rounds in real time) and a reminder of the emotional baggage both characters are struggling with.
Rather than drag out Adonis’ story to unnecessary lengths (which Stallone did to Rocky with some of the lesser sequels), Jordan and screenwriters Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin have opened up the character’s world even more. As a result, I wouldn’t mind seeing where the franchise takes us in the future – something I didn’t expect before watching Creed III.
Grade: B
(Rated R for language and violence. Opens in theaters on March 3.)
Operation Fortune, the latest spy yarn from director Guy Ritchie, falls victim to the same issue that plagues much of his work: it never figures out exactly what kind of movie it wants to be. Is it a Pierce Brosnan-era Bond flick? A “putting the team together” caper like the last few Mission: Impossible entries? A winking send-up like Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman franchise?
Or is it an action parody like Paul Feig’s Spy, which lovingly mocks the genre while also serving as a darn good example of it? That one definitely understands the impact of Jason Statham in comedy mode. Turns out the answer is a little of each, with the finished product feeling all over the place because of it.
In Ritchie’s film, super spy Orson Fortune (the aforementioned Statham) is tasked by his boss (Carey Elwes) with stopping the black-market sale of an apocalyptic new technology by an ostentatious billionaire arms broker (Hugh Grant). Along with some of the world’s best operatives (played by Aubrey Plaza and Bugzy Malone), Fortune must recruit a Hollywood megastar (Josh Hartnett) to help them save the world.
Based on the frequently confounding plot (credited to Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies), I suspect the director and his colleagues realize they never got a grasp on what they were aiming for. The McGuffin at the center of the narrative is barely explained, the team’s plan makes no logical sense and Hartnett’s character serves practically no purpose.
Each actor, although solid (except for Hartnett, who seems unsure why he’s there) appears to be in a different movie, which makes their scenes together jarring at best, puzzling at worst. Statham seems to be aiming for the character he played in Spy, but Feig is far better at comedy than Ritchie. As a result, the actor feels like a carbon copy of the guy he plays in the Fast and Furious movies.
Plaza and Grant are the clear standouts, apparently deciding they were just going to have fun and be weird no matter what. The choice paid off, considering the flick struggles even more when they’re not on screen.
Operation Fortune opened internationally in January and is doing quite well overseas, but it makes this weekend’s domestic release feel like an afterthought. Something tells me that you won’t have to wait long to watch this one at home. Its box office prospects aren’t promising (especially since it’s competing with Creed III and the third week of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), so look for it to begin streaming very soon.
Grade: C
Reach out to Josh Sewell on Twitter @IAmJoshSewell
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