Creed III (4K Ultra HD Blu

Creed III [4K Ultra HD]

Director: Michael B. Jordan

Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors

Release Date: May 23, 2023

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 6/10 Disc Rating: 7.5/10

Synopsis:

After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian (Jonathan Majors), resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian – a fighter who has nothing to lose.

‘Creed III’ rejoins Adonis Creed (Jordan) who is now the reigning champ and finally satisfied with his life and the success he's found in his career. But when his childhood friend Damian (Majors) with which he shares a history arrives at his gym fresh out of prison and intent to finally take his boxing talents from their younger days and prove that he's a competitor, Creed is happy to try and find a way to help his old friend get a foot in the game. But when things start to go wrong and Damian pushes his way to the top against all odds, Creed will have to consider coming out of retirement to take on his old friend and prove that he can still be the champ.

Directed this time around by Michael B. Jordan from a screenplay written by Keegan Coogler (Space Jam: A New Legacy) & Zach Baylin (King Richard), and a story by Ryan Coogler and Keegan Coogler & Zach Baylin, Jordan does a quite capable job at the helm of ‘Creed III’ which also marks his directorial debut. The film's cast includes various new and returning individuals to the series and features Michael B. Jordan (Without Remorse), Tessa Thompson (Thor: Love and Thunder), Jonathan Majors (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), Wood Harris (TV's Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty), Florian Munteanu (The Contractor) and Phylicia Rashad (Black Box) along with more, the majority each offering capable or at least fitting performances overall in their respective roles.

‘Creed III’ is an entertaining sequel that does a great job of serving up some tense and mildly nerve-wracking boxing matches that are beautifully shot, along with delving into the family life of Adonis Creed and the struggles that the now fairly contented family must confront when a familiar face from Creed's childhood reappears and forces his way into their life and the world of boxing which he was forced to abandon after his arrest decades prior. Jordan does a nice job both behind and in front of the camera this time around and the capable cast greatly helps to keep the story moving along and never become dull in the process, while the action in the ring also looks as tremendous as ever for the most part.

The film has its heart mostly in the right place and finds new struggles and decisions for our star to take on, but at the same time much of it plays out a bit too conveniently and by the book, with intended twists that the characters are somehow unable to piece together right off the bat even when the audience has no trouble doing so. It also doesn't quite manage to capture the struggle and fight to prove oneself that has always been one of the most notable aspects of the franchise(s) and Creed nary finds himself challenged throughout the film's course, instead merely using one convenient event to build to another all basically to find a way in which to get him back in the ring. Fortunately, it never allows itself to become overly stale or problematic in its approach and if you can just roll with where it takes you, any fan of the series will surely still find plenty to appreciate about this mostly solid sequel.

Overall, ‘Creed III’ is a largely enjoyable installment in the franchise that delivers some tense and thrilling boxing matches, along with exploring Creed's childhood and a crucial event in it that works well to a degree but also occasionally feels forced in its attempt to suddenly explore it in such depth and utilize it in order to introduce a new key character in the series. ‘Creed III’ is recommended for anyone that's a diehard fan of the Rocky and Creed franchise, along with those who enjoyed the previous two ‘Creed’ films but hasn't yet had the opportunity to check this one out. It may not quite have the strengths and charm of its predecessors, but it still proves itself to be a fairly rewarding continuation in many ways that's certainly well worth a look for fans. If you’re already looking forward to this one it should at least prove worthy of your time and the cost of a rental.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Creed III’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, presented in its original 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks quite good as a whole and provides a generally sharp, clean and well detailed presentation from start to finish that never suffers from any unexpected or unintended faults or issues to be uncovered along the way. The release does a great job of capturing the film's intended appearance which often utilizes some oddly placed colors and hues throughout along with some darker sequences occurring indoors looking almost blurry or dull in style. Everything within still holds up quite well and character faces and clothing, along with backgrounds, crowds and outdoor shots look sharp and immaculately detailed across the board. The Dolby Vision addition also adds some more specific and lifelike colors while black levels remain consistently deep and clean. Overall, this is a solid Ultra High Definition video presentation that looks good throughout and should please fans and newcomers alike.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack delivers admirably and aggressively while providing a clean, crisp and notably immersive audio presentation throughout. It regularly utilizes all seven available channels in order to send crowd noise and chanting, along with nature effects, bits of dialogue and plenty more booming throughout the various speakers at every fitting opportunity, while always ensuring that any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously remain clean and fully audible. Overall, this is a great Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that delivers beautifully every step of the way and should easily thrill viewers.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Creed III’ features a few extras which can all be found on the included Blu-ray. The Blu-ray disc includes a few ‘Deleted Scenes’ from the movie (running approximately 4 minutes in length altogether), along with the Behind the Scenes Featurettes ‘Michael B. Jordan: In The Ring/Behind the Camera’ (running approximately 10 minutes) and ‘Donnie and Dame: There's No Enemy Like the Past’ (approximately 9 minutes) which both include interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray disc included in the 4K UHD Combo Pack and resized. They do not represent the quality of the 4K Ultra HD disc itself and will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on the 4K UHD & Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 6/10 Disc Rating: 7.5/10

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‘Creed III’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from MGM & Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment

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