Samaritan Parent Guide

Years after a climactic battle which saw the death of Granite City’s superhero, Samaritan, the city is in chaos. Some people, including 13-year-old Sam (Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton) believe that Samaritan didn’t really die, and will return to save the city. When Sam befriends his cranky neighbor, Joe (Sylvester Stallone), he begins to suspect that Joe isn’t as unremarkable as he seems…

Superhero movies have been done to death at this point. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know I’ve got a strong case of superhero fatigue. Samaritan is nothing new. It is a derivative slog with nothing interesting to say. There isn’t a single original idea to be found in the script and there aren’t any outstanding production aspects to elevate it above generic at best and boring at worst. The acting varies from “fine” to “trying too hard”. Stallone really is trying, but he’s too old to pull off the stunts he used to perform with ease. This results in some choppy editing to try to make him look more athletic than he is.

I will say the last 15 or so minutes are really fun, if you aren’t sensitive to violence. The film makes a sharp pivot from boring to over-the-top camp and it is very obvious that the switch wasn’t intentional. I should not be laughing through the climax of a gritty action movie, but the ridiculous fight sequences combined with bad dialogue and some of the actors doing the Christian Bale Batman voice for no reason are enough to flip the tone into “so bad it’s good” territory. The third act is a parody of itself, but there’s no way this production team was smart enough to do that on purpose.

The last 15 minutes aside, I don’t recommend this movie. It’s far too violent for young audiences, and too boring and derivative for superhero fans. The message about the moral grey areas between “good guys” and “bad guys” is fine, but it’s been done far better by more competent filmmakers. Do your good deed for the day and skip Samaritan. Maybe that will encourage Amazon to invest in better films.