It was a lighter week for new movies but below are my thoughts on the latest Creed film and the new House Party on streaming. If you’d like to see more of my scores for films and thoughts, feel free to follow me on Letterboxd here.
Creed III (Theaters)
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, and Wood Harris
Synopsis: The third film in the Creed franchise, this film sees Jordan as the director and star. It picks up a few years after the events of the last film where Adonis Creed (Jordan) is the champion and preparing to fight his final professional bout. It’s a success and he goes out on top. Fast forward three years, and Adonis is living as a husband to Bianca (Thompson), whose music career is thriving despite her not being able to perform, and a father. He’s also running a gym with Duke (Harris) and training up-and-coming fighters. When a blast from his past, Dame Anderson (Majors), returns, at first Adonis feels the pull to help. Soon he gets sucked back into old wounds and sucked back into the ring, but does he have anything left? I have enjoyed this franchise, though I thought the second film was a bit predictable and stale. This third film feels more original and in Dame we get the best foil for Creed in the entire franchise. That’s a credit to the story construction but also to the performance of Majors, who is great in the role. His back-and-forth with Jordan is electric and their final confrontation in the ring lives up to everything I’d hoped. This one also has an emotional core that works well. It allows Jordan to shine as an actor, and I enjoyed his scenes with Thompson as well. One of the best subplots is the back-and-forth with Mama Creed (Phylicia Rashad), who does her best work of the franchise. I enjoyed this a lot. It’s the most engaging film I’ve seen so far this new year.
Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sports action, violence and some strong language.
House Party (HBO Max)
Starring: Jacob Lattimore, Tosin Cole, D.C. Young Fly, and Kid Cudi
Synopsis: This new streaming film got a short theatrical release in January. You’ll be forgiven if you missed it as it didn’t serve as a big draw. It’s both a re-boot and a re-make of the original Kid and Play film from 1990. This one finds a pair of friends and party planners (Lattimore and Cole) who are in need of money. When they are hired to clean LeBron James’ mansion while he’s out, they hatch a plan to throw a big bash at the location. Mayhem ensues. You’d hope that laughs would also ensue but those were in short supply with this film. This was originally due out last Fall but got pushed. Now it’s getting a second life on streaming but it wasn’t worth the investment. This is a miss.
Rating: Rated R for pervasive language, drug use, sexual material and some violence.
Matthew Fox is a graduate of the Radio, Television and Film program at Biola University, and a giant nerd. He spends his free time watching movies, TV, and obsessing about football. He is a member of the FSWA. You can find him @knighthawk7734 on Twitter and as co-host of the Fantasy Football Roundtable Podcast.
The Music City Drive-In 
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