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Samaritan review: An unoriginal and bland superhero flick

Sylvester Stallone plays Samaritan, a superhero who is presumed to be dead by the residents of Granite City

2/5rating
Samaritan review: An unoriginal and bland superhero flick

Last Updated: 01.56 AM, Aug 26, 2022

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Story: Thirteen-year-old Sam is hell-bent on proving that his elderly neighbour Joe Smith is Samaritan, the superhero of Granite City who was believed to have been killed during a battle with his rival, Nemesis.

Review: It takes some guts to make a standalone superhero film these days, especially when there is a never-ending barrage of TV shows and films made in the genre which is primarily dominated by the Marvel and DC universes. And coming up with a story that doesn’t seem to be a derivative of what has come before is not the easiest of tasks. Comparisons are unfair but inevitable. But after watching Samaritan, one can’t help but wonder how identical it is to some other superhero flicks in terms of storytelling and tone, the most obvious one being DC’s Batman films.

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Directed by Julius Avery, the film is set in Granite City, which is very much like Gotham City — rife with corruption, chaos, crime, poverty, and unemployment. Thirteen-year-old Sam (Javon Walton) lives with his single mother (Dascha Polanco) and commits petty thefts in order to pocket some extra money. He is a fan of Samaritan, a vigilante who died twenty-five years ago while fighting his rival and twin brother, Nemesis. But he believes that the superhero is alive, and this belief grows stronger when his elderly neighbour and garbage man Joe Smith (Sylvester Stallone) comes to his rescue when he gets beaten up by a few members of a gang. Sam then persuades Joe to come out of his retirement and be the saviour that his city is in dire need of.

The first half of the movie primarily revolves around the unlikely friendship between Sam and Joe. Joe wishes to keep a low profile and steer clear of a life he once lived. But Sam has his own reasons to rever Joe. Through their conversations, the makers give a glimpse of Sam’s life. He mostly spends his days alone without appropriate guidance and attention. And it is Joe who tries to protect him and prevent him from going astray. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Sam is the most fleshed-out character in the film.

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Stallone, who redefined action films in the 80s and 90s, first grappled with the superhero genre in the 1995 film Judge Dredd. The film bombed at the box office and was panned by critics. In 2017, he starred in James Gunn’s Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as Stakar Ogord aka Starhawk, and later in the 2021 DC film The Suicide Squad as King Shark, also helmed by Gunn. In Samaritan, he plays the titular character. Samaritan is an ageing and reclusive superhero who is not as powerful as he was in his heyday. But audiences never really get a clear picture of how he got his superpowers. There is a backstory at the very beginning of the film, but that doesn’t give much insight into his character and, therefore, it is very difficult to relate with him or even root for him.

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All the best superhero films have one thing in common — a strong villain. And that’s what Samaritan lacks. Pilou Asbæk’s Cyrus is the antagonist in the film. All that is said about him is that he idolises Nemesis. But why? What were the circumstances that led him to choose evil over good? These aspects are not discussed in the film. But the character is identical to DC’s Joker. He starts off a rebellion on the streets wearing a mask and wielding Nemesis’ hammer, and soon, the city descends into complete chaos.

The saving grace of the film is the last 20-30 minutes which have a few good action sequences and an unexpected twist. Additionally, both Stallone and Walton (best known for his role as Ashtray O’Neill in Euphoria) deliver great performances. Walton’s Sam is very likable, and one would easily empathise with the character. But the good aspects of the film end here.

Verdict: Samaritan is a much smaller film in terms of budget, scale and grandeur when compared to the Marvel/DC movies. Therefore, one shouldn’t go in expecting CGI and VFX-heavy scenes and action sequences. But the film’s main problems are poor writing and a not-so-original story. Moreover, the film’s short runtime (99 minutes), leaves no room for character development. Watch it only if you are a die-hard Stallone fan.

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