Samaritan and Nemesis once ruled Granite City, until one epic showdown seemingly destroyed them both. That was 25 years ago, and many believed superheroes were gone for good. But Samaritan (Sylvester Stallone) survived, living in disguise as a reclusive garbage man named Joe Smith. A curious young boy, Sam (Javon Walton), uncovers his secret, and things quickly escalate when a local gangster, Cyrus (Pilou Asbæk), finds Nemesis’s magical hammer. Cyrus declares himself the heir and tries to use Sam to lure Samaritan out of hiding. The aging superhero, retired for 25 years, is forced to step back into the fray.
Stallone’s Enduring Superhero Ambitions
At 76, Sylvester Stallone’s desire for superhero glory remains undimmed. The actor, forever associated with “Rocky” and “Rambo” (echoes of which linger in questionable projects like the fifth “Rambo” and “Creed”), seems unwilling to retire from action films, regardless of ratings or reviews. Julius Avery’s “Samaritan” is an adaptation of the Mythos Comics graphic novels, a rather obscure series that feels like a superhero comic pulled from a dusty basement. Stallone, dressed as a homeless man, roams the alleys, throws punches, and prepares to face off against a local crime boss.
The simple concept seems to have borrowed heavily from “Shazam!” and “Hancock,” where an ordinary city dweller turns out to be more than meets the eye, injecting the mundane with the supernatural. However, Samaritan, the superhero in hiding, played with a grimace by the aging Stallone, lacks the drunken charisma of Will Smith or even a spark of vitality. Emotional range has never been Stallone’s forte, but the scowls in “Samaritan” represent his creative limit, suitable perhaps only for eye-catching movie posters. The film inadvertently expands the category of “Stallone’s comic book movie failures,” harking back to awkward adaptations like 1995’s “Judge Dredd.” In short, little has changed in Sly’s acting intentions since that earlier misstep.
A Digital Platform Casualty
Avery transplants the age-old battle of good versus evil to the realm of second-rate action, filled with tedious gang fights, unremarkable street scenery, and superheroes who either parry with high-flown clichés or don ridiculous masks (as Cyrus does). “Samaritan” is a victim of the digital platform, a desperate attempt by producers to scavenge through the streaming trash. It’s unfortunate that streaming services often release films with a “we’ll take what we can get” approach – not big-budget blockbusters, not even quality B-movies, but hastily made productions with a single big name attached. Ironically, one of Prime Video’s biggest successes is “The Boys,” a superhero series that brilliantly reinterprets current trends in the genre.
A Failed Balancing Act
Even for undemanding viewers, “Samaritan” is a remarkably poor attempt to straddle two worlds: trendy superhero fare and old-school action. The filmmakers fail to create a decent comic book movie or offer a meaningful genre revision, instead relying on ideas borrowed from previously successful projects. At times, the film veers into unintentional parody. The self-proclaimed revolutionary Cyrus, like Bane from Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” launches a coup and even dresses similarly to the Batman villain. As for his opponent, Joe Smith, aka Samaritan, there’s little to add. Stallone glumly shuffles through the streets, reluctantly muttering lines and portraying an actor in the throes of a retirement crisis. The action acrobatics are a thing of the past, and the actor lacks the energy for a fresh start. Even the scene where he eats ice cream fails to make the superhero more compelling (Samaritan consumes entire tubs of ice cream to cool down his body after using his superpowers).
It’s possible that Avery’s film would have felt more at home in the early 2000s, when the genre was clunkier, audiences less discerning, and Stallone had the potential to do more than just fight thugs, punch villains, and rummage through garbage. Alas, “Last Action Hero” this is not.