The Reel Review
Sam, a young resident of Granite City, discovers that his reclusive neighbor is actually a superhero who disappeared after an epic battle 25 years ago, in this fantasy/action starring Sylvester Stallone and Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton. With crime on the rise, Sam decides to coax his superhero neighbor out of hiding and save the city.
Everything about Samaritan is a more amateurish, grittier, low rent knockoff of a Marvel or DC superhero movie. The story is predictable, the dialogue is hackneyed, and the fire CGI is disappointingly fake looking. Stallone looks strange and the main villainous couple is a blatant rip-off of The Joker and Harley Quinn. Even Granite City is a poor man’s Gotham.
That said, the unremarkable action movie is at least remarkably entertaining in its own right and has one decent twist. Some viewers may appreciate the gritty vibe of Samaritan and get a kick out of Stallone kicking butt as a 76-year-old action hero, but nearly all will quickly forget about this unremarkable entry in the increasingly bloated and boring superhero genre.
REEL FACTS
• Sylvester Stallone and Martin Starr will reunite in Taylor Sheridan’s upcoming crime series, Tulsa King.
• Samaritan is inspired by two films that premiered in 2000, Unbreakable and Finding Forrester.
• Samaritan was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia.
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