Samaritan

When Sylvester Stallone returned to his iconic role of Philly boxing underdog Rocky Balboa seven years ago in director Ryan Coogler's rousing, ...

But Samaritan finally comes roaring to life in its final half hour, with a simultaneously bonkers and fairly clever plot twist, as well as a spectacular, extended climactic brawl in a multi-story warehouse that works overtime to compensate for the preceding hour and change’s meager lack of action. He stages Joe’s dazzlingly choreographed attack on Cyrus’ gang with a verve that one wishes was more evident earlier, and Stallone becomes more energized in this final stretch too, snarling with badass conviction and tossing off the kind of one-liners commonly found in his ’80s and ’90s action vehicles (“Have a blast!” he quips after tossing a grenade at one baddie). You know I’m built like a tank!”), as well as bizarre actorly touches (Joe habitually scarfing down ice cream is at least explained as a way to cool down his body’s unique overheating tendency, but why he’s seen pouring apple juice into a bowl of Cheerios at one point instead of milk is anyone’s guess). Disappointingly, this first demonstration of Joe’s extraordinary fighting abilities is one of only two extremely brief Stallone-centered action scenes offered up in the first two-thirds of the film. [Samaritan](https://www.avclub.com/film/reviews/samaritan-2022), though, is that it’s not adapted from a comic book; writer Bragi F. When Sylvester Stallone returned to his iconic role of Philly boxing underdog Rocky Balboa seven years ago in director Ryan Coogler’s rousing, beautifully crafted reboot Creed, scoring a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance, it served as a reminder of certain movie stars’ magical ability to stay within a narrow range without sacrificing depth or complexity.

In this action film from Julius Avery, Sylvester Stallone stars as a sanitation worker who may be a superhero.

At the same time, Cyrus’s irritable minion Reza (Moises Arias, an electric presence amped by eye-catching tattoos and hair), just wants to punch everyone, starting with Sam and Joe. Michael Lehr’s fight choreography is designed around special effects that require little from the actor, who hurls scores of nameless brutes through walls with just a tap. “Samaritan,” a grouchy time-waster directed by Julius Avery, pounds the sidewalks of a fictitious city where decades ago, the super siblings Samaritan and Nemesis — mortal enemies and twins — dueled to the death, yet continue on as spray-painted symbols of hope and rage.

New movies streaming or in theaters this weekend: Idris Elba is magic in 'Three Thousand Years of Longing,' Sly Stallone's a superhero in 'Samaritan.'

Olivia and pal Izzy (singer Chlöe Bailey) start using Jane's social media to punish classmates and college competition, which does a number on Olivia's mental state. Adkins growls and curses up a storm in this seabound B-movie as a boat captain out to murder a shark when it starts feasting on tourists. 16) She's invited to a posh wedding in the English countryside, where she's wooed by the manor's suave lord (Thomas Doherty). Come for the cringe humor and comic culture, stay for Matthew Maher's delightfully unhinged performance as the kid's manic, oddball mentor. Daniel Zolghadri plays a middle-class New Jersey teen who drops out of school and lives in squalor in order to find his identity as a cartoonist. ["Rocky"](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2020/06/08/narrator-sylvester-stallone-best-revelations-40-years-rocky-new-documentary/3150268001/) star still makes an effective action hero. Williams as a police negotiator connecting with the vet on a soldier-to-soldier level. His architect wife Maya (Regina Hall) takes them for spring break, a suddenly solo Sonny reconnects with his best bud Huck (Wahlberg) for one of his over-the-top birthday celebrations, and the situation gets disastrously out of hand. Stallone plays an aging man thought to be a superhero by a teen in an Amazon Prime action thriller, Hart and Wahlberg are best friends who get into a load of trouble in a Netflix comedy, and [John Boyega](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2020/12/02/john-boyega-red-white-and-blue-speaking-out-against-racism/6420259002/) has one of his most dramatic roles in a true-life crime thriller. Sonny (Hart) is a stay-at-home dad and PTA president who has no life outside his two kids. She's heard this cautionary tale before, but the two form a bond as he weaves sprawling tales of his past, including his great loves.

Sylvester Stallone doesn't seem thrilled to be playing a superhero in Samaritan, a hodgepodge of non-ideas borrowed from better movies.

[Defendor](/articles/2010/04/15/defendor-dvd-review), [Super](/articles/2011/04/01/super-review), or [Kick-Ass](/articles/2010/03/12/kick-ass-review-3)), but it has no whimsy about itself, no perspective on the genre, and nothing to say about the moral dimensions it constantly harps on in its dialogue. You may have figured it out just by reading the premise, which isn’t a problem in and of itself, but there’s nothing more to it than the matter of what Joe may or may not have done in the past. Samaritan and Nemesis, who briefly appear in flashbacks, are broad stand-ins for childlike notions of good and evil, but the stray lines of dialogue hinting at further complexity may as well be billboard advertisements reading: “Depth: coming soon.” In Samaritan, the superhero-as-police analog isn’t so much a deconstruction of the Avengers, and other protectors of status quo, as it is an excuse to manufacture opposing sides for mind-numbingly staged action scenes lacking any sense of “oomph” (let alone any sense of comprehensibility). Others, like local gangster Cyrus (Pilou Asbæk), with his Nemesis tattoos, believe Samaritan to have been a protector of the rich and powerful, while Nemesis was a fighter for the people. But his societal revolt has about as much grounding in reality as [Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwvAgDCOdU4&ab_channel=YashYadav). Schut) is filled with textures and perspectives it has no idea how to wield, mashing them into a hodgepodge of non-ideas borrowed from other, better movies, both in the superhero genre and in pop culture at large.

REVIEW: This feels like a throwback to the Schwarzenegger-and-a-kid flicks of the early '90s, but without any swagger, chutzpah or comedy.

Schut (Escape Room) from his own 2014 comic, follows a well-worn path, even it does come up with a clever late twist that threatens to lift everything that came before it. To their and Sam’s amazement though, Joe emerges virtually unscathed, only exuding steam and with a major craving for mint choc-chip icecream. So while she works long hours at the hospital just to try and keep them in their low-rent apartment, he’s been increasingly taking jobs assisting small-time hoodlums in nefarious activities. However, he’s also extremely mindful of he and his mother’s financial plight. * “First, it was the custodian at your school, then it was the mailman who outran a bulldog.

Kenneth Branagh presents a nostalgic ode to his childhood with exceptional turns from Jamie Dornan and Caitríona Balfe, while Sylvester Stallone plays a ...

[crime caper](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/mar/30/free-fire-review-ben-wheatley-brie-larson-cillian-murphy) from [Ben Wheatley](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jun/13/ben-wheatley-early-on-the-pandemic-felt-like-a-time-for-getting-a-crossbow-ready-to-hunt-for-petroleum) revels in its focused absurdity – and has a fine eye for a 70s moustache. [Terrence Malick](https://www.theguardian.com/film/terrence-malick) created his [masterwork](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/sep/01/days-of-heaven-film-review), a ravishingly shot tale of tangled romance in 1916 rural Texas. His Protestant builder father ( [Jamie Dornan](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/jamie-dornan)), who has to go to England to find work, wants the family to quit an increasingly volatile north Belfast, but Buddy’s mother (an exceptional [Caitríona Balfe](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jan/23/caitriona-balfe-star-of-belfast-on-family-late-fame-and-her-amazing-fan-club)) finds the ties to family and place difficult to abandon. The unprecedented, bizarre outpouring of national grief after Di’s fatal car crash nonplusses Elizabeth II (a note-perfect Helen Mirren), and her lack of public reaction causes disquiet. A film of gentle humour, light-touch eccentricity and zestful performances from the jolly Bannen and Kelly. Her new prime minister, Tony Blair ( [Michael Sheen](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/michael-sheen)), however, sees it is a critical moment for the monarchy. [Kenneth Branagh](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/kenneth-branagh)’s semi-autobiographical [drama](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/12/belfast-review-kenneth-branagh-jamie-dornan-judi-dench) is an affectionate look back at his childhood, despite being set during the Troubles. Ian Bannen and David Kelly play two old friends in a small Irish village who discover the local recipient of a nearly £7m lottery win, the titular Ned, has died of shock at his good luck. To pass the time, he starts spying on his neighbours across the courtyard, and begins to suspect that one apartment owner has killed his wife. [Richard Gere](https://www.theguardian.com/film/richard-gere)’s labourer Bill realises the ailing landowner ( [Sam Shepard](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/aug/01/sam-shepard-obituary)) has fallen for his lover Abby, who is posing as his sister, and sees the opportunity for a better life in promoting their union – but soon regrets his plan. It’s 1969, and tensions in Northern Ireland are starting to have an impact on the carefree life of nine-year-old Buddy ( [Jude Hill](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/apr/15/belfasts-jude-hill-all-the-celebrities-at-the-oscars-they-were-shaking-with-nerves)). Julius Avery’s film employs its action sparingly – more Luke Cage than Dark Knight – but it’s always fun to see Sly flex his muscles and grunt out his lines, and Pilou Asbæk keeps his crime boss Cyrus to naturalistic levels of badness.

There are so many holes in Samaritan's screenplay that the movie needs to move faster than it does if it is to outrun them.

It even has a twist that you should be able to predict during the opening credits, and the film doesn’t even do anything useful with that potentially interesting development. His evil is so over-the-top he feels ported over from “ [Robocop 2](/reviews/robocop-2-1990).” The way Sam feels about Samaritan is the way Cyrus feels about Nemesis, so much so that he wants to emulate him and destroy Granite City. Then, of course, there’s the scene in the trailer where Joe gets smashed to bits by a car driven by the folks he just beat up, and his body fixes itself. [Austin Butler](/cast-and-crew/austin-butler)’s Elvis from that [Baz Luhrmann](/cast-and-crew/baz-luhrmann) movie to hop over to Amazon from pay-per-view so he can stroll down the street singing “In the Ghetto.” This place is also crime ridden, with Sam committing petty theft with teenagers who work for the evil Cyrus ( [Pilou Asbæk](/cast-and-crew/pilou-asb%C3%A6k)). The bombastic score by [Kevin Kiner](/cast-and-crew/kevin-kiner) and [Jed Kurzel](/cast-and-crew/jed-kurzel) is just obnoxious and overbearing enough to almost convince you that this overwritten origin story should be taken seriously. Schut](/cast-and-crew/bragi-f-schut)’s screenplay, and to the animators who bring it to life.

Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg are old buds reconnecting in "Me Time," Sylvester Stallone is maybe a former superhero in "Samaritan" and Idris Elba is a Djinn ...

In theaters. Meanwhile the Djinn tells her the long version of his origin story, which can feel as long as the movie's title. "Mad Max" mastermind George Miller tells the story of a genie in a bottle in "Three Thousand Years of Longing," starring Tilda Swinton as a narratologist who frees a Djinn (Idris Elba) but is hesitant to make her three wishes. Granite City needs a superhero, and they get one — maybe — in the form of Joe Smith (Sylvester Stallone), an anonymous looking city dweller whom young Sam (Javon Walton) believes may be Samaritan, former protector of the city streets. "Overlord" director Julius Avery doesn't break the mold here, but he tells a grounded story that forgoes capes, tights and most hallmarks of today's superhero extravaganzas. Kevin Hart is a straight-laced dad and Mark Wahlberg is a loose cannon bachelor in "Me Time," a brutally unfunny buddy comedy, which makes no attempt to ever connect to anything resembling reality.

Fresh off new sequels saying "Goodbye, but also not goodbye" to Rocky and Rambo, Sylvester Stallone stars in an aging-superhero movie that seems designed to ...

Is Sam genuinely conflicted between taking up a life of crime and doing the right thing, mirroring the way Granite City’s citizens are divided between Samaritan and Nemesis? On top of the narrative confusion, the tenuous, distant spatial relationship between Sam’s original post and the interior of the hideout makes it seem nearly impossible for anyone to hear him whistling a warning, even if he could. The few moments in Samaritan that do recall more recent superhero movies are still a bit offbeat: Cyrus (Pilou Asbæk), the younger maniac who wants to claim the mantle of Nemesis for himself, sports both a philosophy and a coat that recall the Dark Knight Rises version of Bane. The movie’s superpower is the ability to inspire a litany of distracting questions in almost any scene, no matter how simple. Granite City owes more to the industrial decay of comics movies like The Crow — though it’s equally indebted to local-news scaremongering that depicts any and all cities as cesspools of crime, on the brink of total anarchy. The premise has an appealing directness, laid out in an illustrated prologue: Granite City was once the home of two brothers with superhuman strength and endurance, dubbed Samaritan and (sigh) Nemesis.

Stallone cannot redeem 'Samaritan's many flaws, but he can still make it worth watching for those willing to look past a generic superhero story.

In the end, Samaritan’s most irredeemable crime is being bland in a market oversaturated by superhero media. Stallone has a knack for playing big brutes with a heart, the kind of character who knows they can easily win a fight, but still prefers to hold their punches and use their heads. And if the surprise is not mandatory to make a story pleasant, Samaritan fails to explain why the twist happens, undercutting all emotional weight it might have had. There are badly-placed exposition scenes to explain the rules of the fictional Granite City, who the major players in the movie are, and how superpowers work in this universe. Promising yet another gritty and dark take on the genre, Samaritan sadly fails to bring anything new to the table, turning an inventive concept into a generic superhero story. While Marvel still dominates the superhero market, every other studio still tries to get a piece of this very profitable cake by constantly releasing movies and series about superpowered people.

And though he has appeared in a few superhero movies in recent years, Stallone hasn't led a comic book adaptation since the 1995 adaptation of Judge Dredd. That ...

Starr, who got his break as Bill Haverchuck on the [Freaks and Geeks cast](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2562464/what-the-freaks-and-geeks-cast-is-doing-now) back in 1999, has continued to find success on the small screen, with appearances on Party Down, Drunk History, and Silicon Valley, to name only a few. [treacherous Euron Greyjoy](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2471795/why-one-game-of-thrones-actor-specifically-pushed-to-have-character-die-offscreen) on the [Game of Thrones cast](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2490856/game-of-thrones-what-are-the-cast-members-doing-now) in the HBO fantasy series’ final few seasons, quickly establishing himself as one of the show’s most evil villains. Though she doesn’t have quite as many credits to her name as other members of the Samaritan cast, Tatum has been part of some major projects in recent years. And don’t forget to check out our guide to all the other When he's not writing about movies or television, Philip can be found being chased by his three kids, telling his dogs to stop yelling at the mailman, or yelling about professional wrestling to his wife. His film credits include everything from voice roles in the likes of Despicable Me 2, Astro Boy, and The Secret World of Arrietty to live-action films including Ender's Game, The King of Staten Island, The Stanford Prison Experiment, Pitch Perfect 3, and Blast Beat. Starting things off is Sylvester Stallone himself, who takes on the role of a former superhero who reluctantly gets back in the crime-fighting game after an encounter with a young boy in trouble in Samaritan. During that same stretch of time, Polanco has landed roles in movies like The Cobbler, The Irishman, In the Heights, and most recently, DC League of Super-Pets, in which she voiced Green Lantern. Though this is first time playing a traditional superhero since taking on the titular role in 1995's Judge Dredd, Stallone has made appearances in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. This includes major roles on The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Russian Doll, and When They See Us, to name a few. And though he has appeared in a few superhero movies in recent years, Stallone hasn't led a comic book adaptation since the 1995 adaptation of Judge Dredd. That all changes with Samaritan, Julias Avery's Amazon original movie, which sees Stallone take on the role of a retired masked vigilante who reluctantly comes out of the shadows.

Review: Sylvester Stallone finds nuance in superhero deconstruction 'Samaritan'. A bearded man examines a watch up close. Sylvester Stallone in the movie “ ...

[a well-plotted, action-packed throwback to ’80s blockbusters](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-05-12/top-gun-maverick-review-tom-cruise) but with better-defined characters, a richer emotional range and some of the best aerial combat sequences ever filmed. (At times the characters are dryly serious; at other times someone will throw in a “Jaws” quote as a wink to the audience.) By the end, “Maneater” has walked right up to the edge of being a fun, silly, “so bad it’s good” time-killer. [Sidney Poitier,](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-01-07/remembering-sidney-poitier) who also cast himself as a Civil War veteran leading wagon trains of freed slaves to a new life out west, alongside his wife (Ruby Dee) and a scheming reverend (Harry Belafonte). [institutional and cultural responses to the storm](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-08-11/five-days-at-memorial-review-apple-vera-farmiga-john-ridley), both before and after. The best way to describe the survival thriller “Maneater” is that it’s about two very different people — a grizzled fisherman named Harlan (Trace Adkins) and a vacationer named Jesse (Nicky Whelan) — who have to work together to kill an enormous shark that has eaten some of their loved ones. In between those “you are there” sequences, Russell fills in some of the details of his subject’s life, from his start as a pioneer of antivirus software to his end as a radical libertarian, surrounded by drugs, guns and chaos. It’s hard to separate the facts from the paranoid conspiracy theories when it comes to McAfee, which can make “Running With the Devil” feel a little scattered — like reading a bunch of fevered diary entries. And while McAfee was on the lam — as one of the most famous criminals in the world — multiple reporters started following him, chasing a strange story barreling toward a dark end. [John McAfee](https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-06-25/widow-antivirus-pioneer-john-mcafee-was-not-suicidal) was one of those mega-wealthy folks convinced he knew best how the world should work — and that unless the people in charge let him run things, he was under no obligation to follow their rules. The premise of “Samaritan” is the stuff of cartoons, but the actors makes the stakes feel real. [“The Boys”](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-09-03/amazon-the-boys-season-2-karl-urban-billy-butcher) and “Invincible” have stolen some of the movie’s thunder by doing their own deconstructing and reconstructing of caped-crusader mythology. [Sylvester Stallone](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-sylvester-stallone-20160211-story.html) plays Joe Smith, a garbageman in Granite City, a blighted, crime-ridden metropolis still reeling from the loss of its champion, Samaritan, in a battle to the death with his villainous brother, Nemesis.

Latina actor Dascha Polanco says viewers will relate to the complexity of good versus evil in the new Amazon Prime movie "Samaritan" with Sylvester ...

And I’m proud to being able to have that opportunity,” she said. And the baton was passed on to me. And I’ll pass that on to my kids.” “Within the bad, within the good, you kind of find something that you relate to.” And my parents did their due diligence to bring me here,” she said, referring to her family’s migration from the Dominican Republic to the United States. When you get back up, that’s the hero within us,” she said.