'Creed III' review: Michael B. Jordan, Jonathan Majors smack 'Rocky' movies back in gear

No Rocky, no problem.

The electric and satisfying “Creed III” (★★★? out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters Friday) proves Sylvester Stallone's long-running boxing-movie franchise is in good hands with Michael B. Jordan, both in front of and behind the camera. In addition to reprising his role as Adonis Creed, Jordan packs his directorial debut with the usual “Rocky” melodrama and bombastic ring entrances while freshening the series with stylish, anime-influenced fights and a new spotlight on deaf representation.

The not-so-secret weapon, however, is a powerful antagonistic performance from Jonathan Majors (currently giving Marvel heroes fits and fists in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”), who seems hellbent on punching up every film universe he can.

'Your heart just changes': Jonathan Majors talks 'Creed III,' Marvel's big bad Kang and being a dad

The first two “Creed” movies focused on Adonis becoming his own man and, with the help of Stallone’s Rocky Balboa, emerging from the shadow of his father, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). The threequel finds Adonis reveling in retirement: Instead of getting punched regularly, he enjoys tea parties with his daughter, Amara (Mila Davis-Kent), offers moral support to his music producer wife, Bianca (Tessa Thompson), and promotes the next generation of ring stars.

Things are going great, so of course that’s when Damian Anderson (Majors) shows up hanging next to Adonis’ Rolls-Royce. They were like brothers growing up in a LA group home for foster children, and the older Dame fostered big dreams as well as the natural talent to be an Olympic and professional fighter. An incident involving the two youngsters (revealed piecemeal through the movie) resulted in Dame's incarceration for two decades. Now out of jail, he wants to make up for lost time and yearns for Adonis to hook him up with a title shot while he still has “some gas in the tank.”

'SNL': Michael B. Jordan jokes about his 'first public breakup' months after Lori Harvey split

Adonis is conflicted, though “Diamond Dame” hits home, reminding him of the time his dad gave little-known Rocky a match back in the day. Those close to Adonis are wary of his old friend’s intentions, but survivor’s guilt – and needing an opponent for current champ Felix Chavez (Jose Benavidez) – lead to a high-profile match where Dame shows his true colors, bad blood boils to the surface, and Adonis has to get back in shape for a showdown.

This is a “Creed” movie – and by extension a “Rocky” movie, though it’s the first without Stallone in it at all – so several years of ring rust is nothing a little hardcore training and pulling a small plane can’t fix. (In case you’re wondering, these films are still undefeated when it comes to rousing montages.) Like the best chapters of the franchise, this new narrative knows when to go over the top and when to stay grounded. And with the help of his wife and deaf daughter – who showcases a little of the Creed family spirit – Adonis needs to learn how to figure stuff out with his words as well as his fists.

Sylvester Stallone talks new family reality show: See him climb 'Paramount Mountain' in Super Bowl spot

Both come into play with Dame. Aside from Apollo, “Rocky” villains haven’t always been the deepest characters, but Majors creates something special here with a dark spin on the underdog tale. Mixing the fierceness and smack-talk of Mr. T’s Clubber Lang with real-life champ Mike Tyson’s ring gear and swagger, Majors infuses Dame with palpable pain and underlying rage.

There’s a spark every time Jordan and Majors are together, from a quiet diner scene early on – where Adonis’ face wears regret as much as Dame’s exudes desperation – to their spectacular brawl. Eschewing the normal climactic “Rocky” fight, Jordan instead crafts a match that ventures into the intriguingly fantastical with its emotional battlefield, then delivers a knockout coda.

An improvement on 2018’s “Creed II,” the new film doesn’t quite match the sheer exhilaration of Ryan Coogler’s fantastic 2015 original, yet with the unbeatable combination of Jordan’s eye for filmmaking and Majors’ phenomenal acting, it comes pretty close.

Fact checking 'Cocaine Bear': What's true (and what's not) in 'super-charged' survival movie

From 'Everything Everywhere' to 'Elvis': Here's where to stream these 15 Oscar-nominated movies now

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Creed 3' review: Michael B. Jordan, Jonathan Majors freshen 'Rocky'