no spoilers
Forget the hair implants that you can’t take your eyes off throughout the film, or the kinda rough CGI, and trust that Sly still brings those Sly eyes to the material and pulls you in. Stallone will never escape the legacy of Rambo and Rocky and the beautiful thing is he doesn’t have to. Those characters are rich in the dream of America, and they cross the barriers of race. Rocky and Rambo are amazing because Stallone didn’t attempt to be perfect. He was flawed and we knew it. He wasn’t the smartest, but in his perceived lack of intelligence lied his opportunity. When you know you’re supposed to fail but understand that your opponent knows they are supposed to win, the opponent underestimates. By the time that opponent realizes what they’re into, it’s too late.
Samaritan isn’t well-written. It won’t win any awards, but there are enough elements to build a universe around this film. The movie has all of the standard superhero elements, but the casting allows for the film to work. Stallone does the heavy lifting, but he is well supported by his on-screen partner Sam Cleary, played by Javon Walton. Walton is no stranger to superhero drama. Javon was featured in season 3 of Umbrella Academy. His role was similar to the Sam Cleary role in Samaritan. In Umbrella Academy he was an irritating, troublesome pawn capable of transitioning into a softer, more relatable character. As Sam Cleary, the same mischievous behavior and toughness endears you to the character. The old father/grandfather/son trope works here as the story doesn’t attempt to do too much.
Screenwriter Bragi F Schut, makes sure to deliver a slight origin story, but not enough that the narrative can’t be revisited later. There is insight into a previous climatic battle, but the film doesn’t linger there for very long and it ensures that your focus shouldn’t be on the past. The focus should be on the future. The setting of the film is much like Gotham in DC where there isn’t any certainty of the year. There are cell phones, but the televisions are old box sets with poor quality. The weapons are a blend of old and new tech. Stallone is allowed to carry every aspect of what has enabled him to become the franchise king into this new story and the ending allows for expansion. The added plot twist wasn’t cheesy at all an actually allows for continued redemption arc in the future. It’s definitely worth the time for fans of the superhero genre and of course fans of Sly. (It doesn’t hurt either that Dascha Polanco is in the film as Jovan’s mother. I just like Dascha, lol.)
