Samaritan (2022)
Dir: Jules Avery
Writer: Bragi F. Schut
Starring: Stallone; Javon “Wanna” Walton; Pilou Asbaek
by paulieb2003@gmail.com
Produced by Balboa Productions for Amazon, this is a story Stallone loves and is very familiar with. It also gets him into a superhero movie, which I think is something that appealed to him as well. It is the “don’t push me or I will crush you” kind of story that Stallone uses in Rambo and Rocky, and Samaritan is supposed to be a man of the streets, something else that Stallone loves to do.
Jules Avery has not done much, but has directed action films with big names before like Ewan McGregor and Alicia Vikander. So he probably came cheap for a chance to work with Stallone. Plus this is Stallone’s production company, and you know he is very frugal with his money, so I doubt he splurged on anything.
Samaritan is based on the graphic novels by Bragi F Schut, Renzo Podesta and Marc Olivent. Bragi is the only one credited with the screenplay, so I guess the other two opted out or couldn’t care less.
Since Samaritan is not new and has already been flushed out through graphic novels, you would think the movie would be better. It does not play out like a superhero movie, but more of a weird Rocky/Rambo film. I said at the top it’s the type of story that Stallone loves and I think he made it more Rocky / Rambo than it should have been. I think Stallone was looking for a good balance here between the two, and it misses it’s mark pretty bad.
It’s about a superhero named Samaritan, who disappeared long ago and wants to be thought dead. Doesn’t want to fight anymore, but like Rambo, he is pushed and pushed by social circumstances until he has no choice but strap on that machine gun one last time. Of course Samaritan doesn’t use a machine gun, but you know what I mean.
A little boy played by “Wanna” is what helps draw Samaritan out to fight again, and the kid is pretty good, but the dialogue and the directing is novice here, so it doesn’t ring true – but they go through the motions pretty well.
Nothing in this movie hits the heart, and nothing in this movie is comfortable. The superhero costumes are really weird, we never see or hear Samaritans brother, who drove him into hiding – just weird flashbacks of an exploding power plant where their last fight was. The only thing there is plenty of is Stallone walking down the streets to catch his bus – you know – that Rocky vibe that he is man of the people living a common man’s life.
I do love the guy who plays the main villain, Cyrus, Pilou Asbaek. He reminds me a lot of a Kiefer Sutherland at his peak. Very good in front of the camera, really lifts the movie up and engages an audience. I wish this can be said for the rest of the cast, but no such luck.
I think if this movie was given a bigger budget, with more competent artists this could have been a lot better, yet the story really just boils down to a Rambo film. I don’t know if audiences would have embraced it or not, but it would have been fun to find out.
