Samaritan

Welcome to a world of superheroes, which for once is set away from the universes of Marvel and DC. In the dark and gritty underbelly of Granite City, the people mourn and long for days past when their murdered superhero and defender Samaritan roamed the streets. For Sam Cleary (Javon “Wanna” Walton), this dream has become an obsession that will soon become a reality once he discovers that his reclusive elderly neighbour Joe (Sylvester Stallone) is in fact the powerful hero, hiding in plain sight and seeing out his days as a trashman. However, every hero has his enemy, and when an anarchic gang leader named Cyrus (Pilou Asbaek) gets his hands on Nemesis’s hammer, Sam must make Joe utilise his powers once again and save the city from falling.

Stallone has still got it, there is no doubt about that, which comes as a staggering revelation given the star and writer of the Rocky franchise is now 76 years old (74 at the time of filming), but unsurprisingly he is still in tip-top condition and we never question his ability to catapult another human being across a room with his bare hands. His character is written very much in the style of Bruce Willis’s David Dunn in Unbreakable and in fact, Bragi F Schut’s screenplay has unnerving similarities.

The film may as well be set in Gotham City, as that is evidently what it wants to be, with its crime-ridden streets falling into chaos with each passing day and the on-the-nose superhero dialogue dragging this train into cliché central. Granted, the movie boasts a promising cast and there are some persuasive performances in there, but eventually, even the supporting roles fall flat thanks to the writing. Pilou Asbæk plays a character of pure unadulterated evil, which is always fun to behold, however, even his role features a single-track motivation with no signs of redemption ever forthcoming.

Success comes alongside the acting in the form of a decent and unpredictable twist, but it could be argued that the movie is probably a fraction too short, running at 99 minutes, leaving little time for character development. Perhaps a series might have suited this story, providing more scope for detailed exploration and great relationship building.

It is so difficult to contest the power and might of the Marvel Cinematic Universe these days, and although Samaritan puts in a valiant effort, ultimately it falls to the perils of its own inner workings. It is too similar to what has come before, presenting very little new other than the usual formula of “good guy comes out of retirement to defeat bad guy”, with justice prevailing in the end. Who would have thought it?

Guy Lambert

Samaritan is released on Amazon Prime Video on 26^th August 2022.

Watch the trailer for Samaritan here: