My colleague Trent Horn recently binged all the Rocky films, ending with the third installment of the Creed series. If you don’t know what films I’m talking about, just stop reading now. We can’t be friends.
In one of his recent Free For All Friday episodes of the Counsel of Trent, he treats the listener with a brief summary of each of the films and a ranking of its villains based on their quality of acting and believability. Trent puts Tommy Morrison at the bottom of the list, and for good reason. Rocky V is a total train wreck.
What I love about the films is that we see Rocky’s transformation from a leg-breaker to boxing world-champion in the first two, and then see him become humbler and more grounded in the later films. Of course, there are the Catholic elements: Rocky often prays and makes the sign of the cross before he leaves his corner to get his face turned sideways. He even stops at the Catholic church where he and Adrian were married to ask Father Carmine for a quick blessing before his big fight in Rocky II.
Enter Creed III. Trent says in his podcast that, while the latest in the Creed series is not the best, he still found it an enjoyable watch. I could not disagree more. This film was like sandpaper to the eyeballs. I texted Trent as soon as the film was over to tell him the experience was like watching a Fast and Furious movie, but with boxing. It’s hard for me to put this feeling into words, but the Fast and Furious franchise always looks slick with new cars, rich and beautiful young people, lavish settings, and the latest tech. Somewhere in all that is a weak story. That’s what Creed III was like for me. The reason for this, in my opinion, is the absence of Sylvester Stallone and his Rocky character. These elements, I think, kept the series somewhat grounded.
The big takeaway here—besides that I hopefully just saved you from wasting one hour and fifty-seven minutes of your life—is that, on occasion, our apologists can get things wrong. But like the Karate Kid, they’re still the best around. I love Trent’s Free for All Friday because you get a glimpse of what he does when he’s not answering objections to the Catholic Faith. Plus, the show is just fun to listen to. You can catch this episode and all the others on catholic.com, YouTube, or any podcast app; or visit his Patreon page and consider becoming a supporter.