Samaritan | Review & Score

About: A young boy learns that a superhero who was thought to have died after an epic battle twenty-five years ago may in fact still be alive.

Sylvester Stallone was made for this role. Matter of fact, he was made for the superhero genre.

I loved just about every aspect of this movie. From start to finish, it felt special and it felt so natural, mostly because Stallone fits this type of character so well. He looked like he was having the time of his life too, which is a great thing.

I came into SAMARITAN with medium sized hopes on what I was expecting. I did get some of that, but I came out of the movie fully entertained. I didn't think it was going to blow me away, like say an Avengers films. But watching Stallone as a grizzled old superhero whipping a ton of ass... I'm all for it.

And you get some good ass whipping scenes from Stallone. Let's back up a bit though. The story goes as a young boy learns that his neighbor (Stallone) may be the legendary superhero 'Samaritan' from 20 years prior. The young boy is played by actor Javon Walton.

I want to compliment the acting, direction, action sequences, grittiness and performances of Sylvester Stallone and Javon Walton. The action sequences felt very in the middle of the spectrum. Like, they weren't underdeveloped or overdeveloped, they were right in the middle and had great story behind them.

Most action movies just add random action scenes for the pop of the audience, but here you get the somewhat rarity of a stronger story behind each punch. I really like that and wish it happened more in action films. But... you get something entertaining from most. That's what matters in the end.

Stallone's performance is a highlight for me specifically because I've always wanted to see Stallone as a lead character in a superhero film. He fits the role perfectly and put out a stellar performance along with it. He's charismatic and has a larger than life presence when he's on screen. He makes the character feel that much more important.

Walton as Sam was another great performance. He's young, brash, curious, brave and has tremendous chemistry with Stallone's character Joe. Their dialogue when on screen together is great. Does it come off corny? Of course it will. But it's the actor's job to make you give a crap about what they're saying and the story behind it all. That's a key part. Walton and Stallone are a tremendous duo.

If you're looking for a nice grit shoveled, hammer tossing, smackdown of a superhero movie with a touch of class - Samaritan should lather your senses. Stallone is a force of nature, and we're for it.

3/5