I recently watched the Amazon Prime film SAMARITAN starring Sylvester Stallone and I must say, it was a refreshing change from most superhero films nowadays. I quite enjoyed it. I was pleasantly surprised.
Now, as I’ve said before, I don’t “review” movies. I give my personal thoughts which are based on gut feelings and instincts which I cannot claim are in any way reflective of whether the movie was good or bad. I’m just telling what I thought about it and you decide for yourself.
Here be spoilers!
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The film takes place the crime-ridden granite city where there once lived twin brothers; two superhumans, named Samaritan and Nemesis. They were both similarly powered, but butted heads over public policy. Samaritan was on the side of the law, while Nemesis was more of a, shall we say, anti-hero. They fought each other, and eventually died in a fiery battle. Or did they?
13-year-old Sam Cleary believes Samaritan is still alive, working as a garbage man named Joe, residing in the building across the street. To try and make a little money to help his mom, Sam starts working for a crime lord named Cyrus. Cyrus sees himself as the “hero” of this story. He wants to get back at the cops and rich people who keep him and the poor down. He idolizes Nemesis.
When Sam gets himself in trouble, Joe rescues Sam from his attackers, displaying superhuman strength. Sam even witnesses Joe getting hit by a car and recovering miraculously from his injuries.
Sam of course, wants Joe to resume his role as Samaritan and save the city from its crime problem. Joe declines, preferring to live a quiet life tinkering with the junk he finds in the garbage. However, he doesn’t get that opportunity.
Cyrus ramps up the violence. His gang steals military-grade EMP weapons, planning to take out the power grid. He also breaks into a police evidence room to steal the one weapon that can defeat Samaritan: the hammer of Nemesis. The hammer was forged with all the malice Nemesis had for his brother. With the hammer of his hero, Cyrus goes on a violent rampage.
Eventually, Cyrus puts two and two together and figures out that Joe is hiding his secret identity. Sam, catching wind of Cyrus plans, tries to warn Joe, but Cyrus kidnaps him to lure Joe out of hiding.
The exciting climax is just too good to give away. I loved the way the writers and directors handled it.
The thing I liked about this movie was that it wasn’t about the optics or mindless violence or exciting battles; it was more about two characters saving each other. No flashy special effects and very little CGI at all. It was a movie about how people can change, and even the people we hate can be redeemed.
I think that’s important to remember in a culture where everyone is getting cancelled; even people we strongly disagree with can change their minds with time and patience. Maybe they’ll even be our friends one day. That’s so important to remember as society becomes more and more polarized.
Well, thanks for reading. I hope you found value in my thoughts. Have you seen Samaritan? What did you think of it? Share your thoughts below! Can’t comment? Subscribe for only $5/month to unlock the comments section today!
Farewell until next week.