Samaritan (2022)

Samaritan (2022)

 

3/10

Starring

Sylvester Stallone

 

Directed by Julius Avery

 

I know Stallone played Dredd in the past and has been the hero in his prime, but playing a superhero with powers is a new one for me—and honestly, he failed to deliver much. His character was an old guy who was just indestructible. The intro of the movie felt like a rip-off of Nickelodeon’s Avatar intro and, fittingly, ended the same way: with the hero disappearing when he’s needed the most.

From there, the movie becomes so predictable that what was supposed to be a shocking reveal at the end turned out to be exactly what you’d expect. It’s like everyone else in the cast—except Stallone—skipped the acting class where they teach you how to sell a character and make it believable.

On top of that, the lazy writing seems to ignore a lot of important details. What about the aftermath of the chaos caused by Nemesis and his crew? The movie doesn’t show the consequences for the town after everything electrical shut down. Were parts of the city affected? Were there blackouts? And where were the cops? It’s like they forgot law enforcement exists. There’s no mention of an investigation or anyone trying to solve what’s going on.

You might say the movie chose to focus on other aspects, but watching it makes you realize why other movies don’t skip over these details. Showing the police involved in the chaos or the city struggling to recover from the damage adds weight to the events and makes the stakes feel real.

The plot revolves around two indestructible brothers who grew up in a place where they were feared. A tragic incident in their childhood drove them apart, creating two opposing worldviews: one brother (Samaritan) wants to save the world as a hero, while the other (Nemesis) wants to watch it burn.

Another tragedy struck, leading to one brother’s death in an inferno started by the other. Now, years later, the world hasn’t improved, and a young boy stumbles upon an old man who saves him from being beaten up. The boy sees the man bend the blade of a knife with his bare hands and realizes he’s found one of the brothers—Samaritan. His suspicions are confirmed when the old man survives being hit by a car.

Meanwhile, a group of criminals inspired by Nemesis wants to destroy the world and let it burn, and the young boy tries to convince Samaritan to step up and be a hero again.

In the end, this was a complete waste of time. Whatever potential the movie had died the moment they introduced that copied Avatar intro.