Samaritan

Samaritan

Thirteen year old Sam Cleary suspects that his mysteriously reclusive neighbor Mr. Smith is actually the legendary vigilante Samaritan, who was reported dead 20 years ago. With crime on the rise and the city on the brink of chaos, Sam makes it his mission to coax his neighbor out of hiding to save the city from ruin.

  • Released:
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Action, Fantasy, Thrillers
  • Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Javon Walton, Pilou Asbæk, Dascha Polanco, Moisés Arias, Martin Starr, Jared Odrick, Michael Aaron Milligan, Natacha Karam, Shariff Earp, Brice Anthony Heller, Nicholas Logan, Julie Haught, Sophia Tatum, Sophia Tatum, Henry G. Sanders, Abraham Clinkscales, Shameik Moore, Roger Payano, Frederick Williams, Dwayne Alistair Thomas, Kevin Mikal Curry
  • Director: Julius Avery
 Comments
  • stevenfallonnyc77 - 28 October 2023
    A good one
    No, "Samaritan" won't go down in history as a great superhero movie, but it is pretty enjoyable with an interesting plot.

    This movie kind of seems a few steps above a TV-movie of the Week, and a few below a big superhero theatrical release. Which in my opinion is a good thing - it's not overrun from start to finish with annoying and obviously fake CGI. Of course, there is a lot of CGI but when you don't spend $200 million on it, it's nice not to have it suffocate you.

    I didn't even see the big twist in the plot coming, that was a decent turnaround and a nice surprise. Especially if you're a Stallone fan, "Samaritan" isn't a bad way to kill some time.
  • vithiet - 29 June 2023
    Not good but not horrible.
    So I place it slightly below Black Adam in terms of quality and that's too bad because it had potential as a concept. I think Stallone is doing a fine job with what he was given, it's too bad that the writing is subpar. Within the first 3 minutes I could have told you exactly what the story was going to be and I would have been right. Also everything else from the costume to the sets felt cheap for some reason, which really didn't help the whole thing. So while it's not completely abysmal it's definitely not worth spending time watching it if you have better things on your list. Maybe if there is nothing else while you're on a flight for example...
  • deemwaura - 19 February 2023
    Stallone is Still Amazing.
    I really enjoyed Stallone's character and that is the only thing I enjoyed. The movie is predictable I knew there was something up with him from jump, unfortunately all movies are not as surprising with the plot twist unlike the days of Keyser Söze (sigh the good ol' days 😅) we expect the "twist".

    Samaritan I like that he has layers to him, good, bad, chill, explosive, strong, weak, experience with age and tired (aren't we all) while trying to get on with it and carry on and in my opinion sexy (I love all that confidence he still exudes as Stallone).

    Everybody else sucked. Like really stanky. The kid was annoying (very entitled in my opinion) while yelling for things that the old man should do. Absolutely no powers of persuasion just a shrill whinge with no oratory skill that would make me feel, like gosh help him. I actually yelled at the T. V to leave that old man alone and go on about your business. The world effing sucks and he got himself involved with shady characters and now demands for help? Get out of here.

    So goes the same for his Momma. How you borrowing money from your 10yr old, never asks the right questions or follow up questions when her child comes home with injuries; no discipline for her wayward child and expects a man whom she met 10 minutes ago to protect her child while rudely, with gumption and great audacity asks him why he did not protect her son. Excuse me, what?

    The villains are all cartoon villains and I won't even bother with writing anything about them. They are inconsequential and really embarrassing.

    So maybe this was the writer's fault? That is my conclusion.
  • mofhiry - 22 November 2022
    Awesome movie!
    I thought it was amazing, and you can tell Stallone really enjoy enjoyed making it. He played his part to perfection, the story was great. I thought it was set up well enough to make you crave that style of movies more. It's the classic action style your expect from a Stallone movie, no frills no political agendas, just classic good movie.

    My biggest complaint is that I believe the movie wasn't promoted NEAR enough to gather a thoroughly broad audience. I never even heard of it until one day I just saw it under "this actor also plays on" in Prime.

    *****HERE BE SPOILERS*****

    I do have one negative thing to say, but in this kind of plot it's near impossible to avoid. The fact that he was insistently referred to as 'Samaritan' repeatedly, almost forced, kind of gives away the fact that he's not at all the person he keeps getting called. I know it's hard to write it in the script and screenplay properly, but I think 20 mins in I knew right away the plot of that aspect. But at the same time that tells you how good the movie was. I knew and still thoroughly enjoyed it.
  • markbarner - 29 October 2022
    Bad script and low end direction.
    It just reeks of bad writing. The direction is not good either. So many awkward lines and nonsense directing that just makes it all seem like a b movie. It's too bad. One of my old friends plays in it and at least he does a good job. Even the boy in the leading role is the reason why it's tolerable watching. There are obvious dubbing in it too so you know there has been rewriting of the script and re-editing. It has potential the first 35min and then it went downhill.

    The CGI is horrible too. Deepfake does a better job. It's just way too corny. I think it's made for teens from 14-18 because other people would see the movie mistakes - helpfully... I enjoyed some of it.
  • P3n-E-W1s3 - 10 October 2022
    What Makes A Superhero? Perspective.
    Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Samaritan; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

    Story: 1.50 Direction: 1.50 Pace: 1.50 Acting: 1.50 Enjoyment: 1.50

    TOTAL: 7.50 out of 10.00.

    Twenty-Five Years Ago, The Worlds Greatest Hero Vanished.

    Twenty-Five Years Later, Sly, Schut, and Avery Show Everyone How To Make A Good Superhero Movie - Take Note DC.

    When the narration started during the opening credits, I cringed. This voice-over is the worst exposition style, and I was left dreading the movie. If I winced at the backstory's recounting, what kind of terrible narrative would be in the picture? Luckily, it gets better. Bragi F Schut delivers to the audience a moralistic tale of not judging a book by its cover, dipped in the realism of self-exclusion and getting by. But the best element is the differing viewpoints. One boy's villain is another man's hero. This concept allowed Schut to add depth to his creations. The hero of the story isn't Samaritan. It's Sam Cleary, the boy convinced the hero is still alive, though not kicking ass. Sam is a street-smart kid living in a rough neighbourhood. He lives his life from day to day. Most times, Sam stays on the right side of the law. However, when money's required, he's not beyond jumping the line. He has one dream and one obsession - finding Samaritan. During one of his hero moments, Sam tries to help his friend and gets a beat down for his troubles. Fortunately, his neighbour Joe is on his way home from a hard day collecting refuse and helps Sam by defending him from the thugs. The selfless act of being a good samaritan brings Joe to Sam's attention. And because he crushed one yob's knife, he's now a prime Samaritan candidate. Can Joe be the evanescent hero? Or is there a darker secret to him? Add to this the bad guy, Cyrus, who too has a hero crush, not on Samaritan but on his brother and archenemy, The Nemesis (I bet he thought long and hard for that original epithet). The Nemesis appears to be the common man's hero who ventured to take down the rich, the privileged, and the powerful. Cyrus plans to resurrect The Nemesis and utilise his power hammer and image to wreak chaos in the city, bringing The Man and the power companies to their knees. Unfortunately, Sam finds he's piggy in the middle between hero and villain. These plots and subplots keep the story intriguing, and Schut fills it with engaging and credible characters. Moreover, he makes it more realistic by setting it in the city slums. Even though the resulting climax isn't a shocker - it's a standard comic-book finale - it doesn't fail to entertain.

    Julius Avery's direction is superb. I liked how he didn't shy away from showing reality in all its gritty griminess. The streets are dirty and litter-strewn, and graffiti daubs everything everywhere. There's a greyness to the entire area, and it doesn't come from Avery's use of coloured filters. This discolouration is natural and comes from the region's depression. When you have the truth, you don't need to fake it. It made the story more powerful and resonant. And here's the biggest compliment I can pay to everybody working on the film: I was so entranced by the narrative, the acting, and the movie that I noted nothing untoward with the cinematography, nor did I notice anything spectacularly brilliant, I was that absorbed - thank you, guys. I will say that when I reached the finale, I found myself thinking, bloody hell, now that's a great fire. The CGI flames flickered and licked the fake scenery with fake realism. Fire is one of the worst things to generate with a computer realistically, but they nearly nailed it. They did nail young Sly, though. This CG guy reminded me of Stallone in Cobra.

    The cast is faultless in their performances. I admire how the director and Stallone don't over-abuse Stallone's stardom. That happened in Dredd, and let's not say any more about that. I've been a follower of his since he began. And though everybody gave him vitriol over his simplistic portrayal of Rocky Balboa in the first flick, me included - Adrian! - I was lucky enough to watch Paradise Alley, which I recommend. Paradise turned me into a follower, and it's been nice to watch him grow into a more confident and refined actor, which shows in his portrayal of the weary and world-worn Joe. You can tell the guy had a hard life and that the better part of his turmoil is his own doing. All he wants is solitude, and he's stubbornly reticent to change. He's a grumpy old git. Whereas the energy and life of the story come from Sam, portrayed magnificently by Javon Walton. This kid goes through the whole emotional scale, and he depicts each one realistically and effortlessly. Walton is an actor to watch, and I hope he gets plenty more work off the back of Samaritan. And everyone else staring in the picture are as equally talented.

    Samaritan is one of the better superhero movies to grace our small screens this year. I would readily rate it above The Batman (Yawn!) and Morbius. It possesses the heart of a good superhero movie. And though it hints at depression, especially in Joe, the film doesn't come across as depressing or overly prosaic or silly. And because there are morals involved, I'd gladly recommend Samaritan to all, young and old.

    In one comment, a reviewer stated that it made him wish he'd seen Stallone in a really good Superhero movie. Well, I think this is a really good Superhero movie, but should DC decide to bring Batman of the Future or The Dark Knight into their dull real-life movie universe, it would be nice to see Stallone as the old Bruce Wayne.

    Hey, what was that explosion? Oh God, Nemesis is blowing up the power stations. Quick! Before the lights go out, check my IMDb lists - The Final Frontier and Holding Out For A Hero to see where I ranked Samaritan.

    Take Care & Stay Well.