Directed by Julius Avery, Samaritan follows the story of thirteen-year-old Sam Cleary (Javon Walton) who suspects that his mysterious and reclusive neighbor, Joe Smith (Sylvester Stallone), is actually a legend hiding in plain sight.
Twenty-five years ago, Granite City’s superpowered vigilante, Samaritan, was reported dead after a fiery warehouse battle with his rival, Nemesis. Most believe he perished in the fire, but some, like Sam, have hope that he’s still alive. With crime now on the rise, Sam makes it his mission to coax Samaritan out of hiding to save the city from ruin.
Ever since the film was first announced by Stallone a few years back I have been eagerly anticipating it, not just because of Stallone himself but because it is an original superhero film not based on any pre-existing material. The benefit of this is that it allows a filmmaker to have limitless potential to make a unique and refreshing take on the superhero genre that stands out even in a time when superhero media dominates the market.
Some directors like M. Night Shyamalan and Josh Trank did this with their own works so I was very interested to see what Julius Avery and Sylvester Stallone had to offer with their stories. What they gave was a grounded entertaining flick that managed to completely take me by surprise with heart and its bold directions.
Some parts of it play with typical tropes of the superhero genre as well as other genres but throw in new spins that make the film massively different from others and give viewers a new perspective that many won’t see coming. Critics have been slamming the film as I write this but to be honest I have no clue what they are on about because this film feels largely refreshing compared to the big-budget comic book titans and is also well crafted for the most part. For something that could have potentially been a cheap lazy film just trying to cash in on the superhero craze, there is actual effort put forward here in a lot of areas.
We have a small but well-chosen cast here and to start off we have Javon Walton as Sam who does a great job playing a troubled youth who isn’t a perfect wholesome kid but has good intentions. We get a good amount of time seeing his life and struggles for us to connect with, though we also see him making bad decisions that result in him getting in with bad crowds.
Everything changes for him when he believes he’s found his hero and tries his best to get him to get back to his heroics, believing he could make things better for everyone including himself and his mother. Walton really delivers on his performance though I will say his performance is largely overshadowed by Sylvester Stallone’s Joe Smith.
Stallone takes on the role of grizzled superhuman who is haunted by his past and wants nothing to do with the chaos in the city for mysterious reasons that become much clearer as the film progresses. The reluctant, retired hero trope is one we have seen before but the way it is done in this film and the performance Stallone gives offers a completely new take on the trope and delivers a massive twist that changes your entire perspective on the character and the story in the best way possible.
Stallone gets to kick ass in this role as one would expect from the 76-year-old action star, but he also manages to deliver strong dramatic acting in many scenes, offering a lot of emotional gravity in his dialogue, facial expressions, and physical performance.
He shares great chemistry with Javon, and the two have a lot of great scenes that can range from funny to surprisingly touching. It reminds me very much of the chemistry he and Michael B. Jordan shared in the Creed films, though again the direction that the pair in this film are given is unexpected and different, adding more to the refreshing aspects this film offers.
We also have a delightfully fun performance from Pilou Asbæk as the film’s villain Cyrus, a gang leader that is obsessed with Samaritan’s arch enemy Nemesis, who even founded an anarchist cult in his honor. While some people consider Samaritan the hero and Nemesis the villain there are some like Cyrus who believe in the opposite, offering an interesting perspective that offers a realistic look at how people in the real world would perceive these two super-powered beings, ones with their own views and motives, making the lines between good and evil blurred.
That same perspective ends up becoming a primary theme in the film’s story, adding to the grounded and gritty tone. But even with its dark tone, it does manage to offer some lighthearted moments along with very fun action, courtesy of Stallone, who does his stunts and is involved in a lot of practical work.
A lot of practical effects were used in this film, especially in the action, and it is magnificent. It’s the old-school bare-knuckle kind of action that goes hard even at a PG-13 rating and definitely will give any old-school fans of Stallone big smiles as they see him kicking ass and looking good doing it.
I do really appreciate seeing the recent rise of practical effects be more frequent in films and this certainly is another worthy candidate to the growing list showing that practical effects are definitely more impactful than CGI.
But on the topic of CGI, there is some present in this film, and while some of it is really good in a lot of places there are also some moments of uncanniness present that do stick out like a sore thumb. The biggest involved a flashback scene involving a de-aged Stallone that from a distance looks amazing but when it gets closer to his face it hits very awkward Tron Legacy Jeff Bridges levels of uncanniness. It only shows up for one scene but it was a largely unpolished effect that MGM didn’t seem to have the proper tools for, in comparison to studios like Marvel and Lucasfilm who have now seemingly perfected the de-aging game.
Aside from effects like those the rest of the film looks really good from a visual perspective, especially when it comes to the cinematography. We get absolutely gorgeous shots of a gritty, worn-down city in need of a hero, and it feels very devoid of bright colors but in a good way. It adds to the film’s grounded tone and absorbs viewers into this world, making you feel this fictional history in a visual sense and living up to the name of Granite City.
We also get a stellar score from Jed Kurzel and Kevin Kiner that adds to the constant tension and thrills this film delivers and makes the action scenes feel much more impactful.
Samaritan lived up to my anticipation though I didn’t expect some of the surprises this film had in store. It has some missteps and it definitely takes a bit for some of the surprises to kick in but it is definitely worth watching. And I definitely see myself watching this film again with a different view after that awesome twist that really gives the film rewatch value. If you want something that is different from the big-budget comic book films and does something new with the tropes of the genre then Samaritan is definitely worth your time. I’m going to give Samaritan an A- = 90.
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