Samaritan

Review: Sylvester Stallone finds nuance in superhero deconstruction 'Samaritan'. A bearded man examines a watch up close. Sylvester Stallone in the movie “ ...

[a well-plotted, action-packed throwback to ’80s blockbusters](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-05-12/top-gun-maverick-review-tom-cruise) but with better-defined characters, a richer emotional range and some of the best aerial combat sequences ever filmed. (At times the characters are dryly serious; at other times someone will throw in a “Jaws” quote as a wink to the audience.) By the end, “Maneater” has walked right up to the edge of being a fun, silly, “so bad it’s good” time-killer. [Sidney Poitier,](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-01-07/remembering-sidney-poitier) who also cast himself as a Civil War veteran leading wagon trains of freed slaves to a new life out west, alongside his wife (Ruby Dee) and a scheming reverend (Harry Belafonte). [institutional and cultural responses to the storm](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-08-11/five-days-at-memorial-review-apple-vera-farmiga-john-ridley), both before and after. The best way to describe the survival thriller “Maneater” is that it’s about two very different people — a grizzled fisherman named Harlan (Trace Adkins) and a vacationer named Jesse (Nicky Whelan) — who have to work together to kill an enormous shark that has eaten some of their loved ones. In between those “you are there” sequences, Russell fills in some of the details of his subject’s life, from his start as a pioneer of antivirus software to his end as a radical libertarian, surrounded by drugs, guns and chaos. It’s hard to separate the facts from the paranoid conspiracy theories when it comes to McAfee, which can make “Running With the Devil” feel a little scattered — like reading a bunch of fevered diary entries. And while McAfee was on the lam — as one of the most famous criminals in the world — multiple reporters started following him, chasing a strange story barreling toward a dark end. [John McAfee](https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-06-25/widow-antivirus-pioneer-john-mcafee-was-not-suicidal) was one of those mega-wealthy folks convinced he knew best how the world should work — and that unless the people in charge let him run things, he was under no obligation to follow their rules. The premise of “Samaritan” is the stuff of cartoons, but the actors makes the stakes feel real. [“The Boys”](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-09-03/amazon-the-boys-season-2-karl-urban-billy-butcher) and “Invincible” have stolen some of the movie’s thunder by doing their own deconstructing and reconstructing of caped-crusader mythology. [Sylvester Stallone](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-sylvester-stallone-20160211-story.html) plays Joe Smith, a garbageman in Granite City, a blighted, crime-ridden metropolis still reeling from the loss of its champion, Samaritan, in a battle to the death with his villainous brother, Nemesis.

An animated, comic-book-inspired opening turns out to be the best part of "Samaritan," a very by-the-numbers superhero tale that casts Sylvester Stallone as ...

About all that's left is the modest kick of seeing Stallone in this sort of setting, a novelty that only goes so far. ["Overlord"](https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/09/entertainment/overlord-review) ["Creed" films](https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/20/entertainment/creed-ii-review)

Stallone cannot redeem 'Samaritan's many flaws, but he can still make it worth watching for those willing to look past a generic superhero story.

In the end, Samaritan’s most irredeemable crime is being bland in a market oversaturated by superhero media. Stallone has a knack for playing big brutes with a heart, the kind of character who knows they can easily win a fight, but still prefers to hold their punches and use their heads. And if the surprise is not mandatory to make a story pleasant, Samaritan fails to explain why the twist happens, undercutting all emotional weight it might have had. There are badly-placed exposition scenes to explain the rules of the fictional Granite City, who the major players in the movie are, and how superpowers work in this universe. Promising yet another gritty and dark take on the genre, Samaritan sadly fails to bring anything new to the table, turning an inventive concept into a generic superhero story. While Marvel still dominates the superhero market, every other studio still tries to get a piece of this very profitable cake by constantly releasing movies and series about superpowered people.

Latina actor Dascha Polanco says viewers will relate to the complexity of good versus evil in the new Amazon Prime movie "Samaritan" with Sylvester ...

And I’m proud to being able to have that opportunity,” she said. And the baton was passed on to me. And I’ll pass that on to my kids.” “Within the bad, within the good, you kind of find something that you relate to.” And my parents did their due diligence to bring me here,” she said, referring to her family’s migration from the Dominican Republic to the United States. When you get back up, that’s the hero within us,” she said.

SALT LAKE CITY — When it comes to Sylvester Stallone movies, it's seems like it's either a big hit or a big miss. For every Rocky, First Blood, ...

Check out [his other in-depth reviews of movies and streaming TV series](https://ksltv.com/category/entertainment/moviereviews/) on KSLTV.com. Schut](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0776885/?ref_=tt_ov_wr), though he allowed it to be adapted into graphic novels from Mythos Comics before the movie was ever made. [Pilou Asbæk](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1561982/?ref_=tt_cl_t_3)) for the cash it would bring in to help his mother, he becomes more and more convinced that his mysterious and reclusive neighbor Mr. The idea to make Granite City look like a run-down, rust belt-type city helped add to the feeling of impending chaos that the movie was trying to create. Let’s just say it’s a good thing this is direct-to-streaming because you’re not out any extra money for having watched it. For some viewers, that will definitely be a turn-off. This role is right in his wheelhouse and the action and stunts with which he was involved were very good. [Andy Farnsworth](https://www.facebook.com/KSLAndyFarnsworth/) does a [weekly “What To Watch” segment](https://www.facebook.com/watch/520600888034267/2736432333333542/) for KSL 5 TV in Salt Lake City and also hosts the [Fan Effect](https://kslpodcasts.com/podcast/fan-effect/) podcast for [KSL NewsRadio](http://kslnewsradio.com/). The movie followed several well-worn comic book tropes, but I thought more of them worked than didn’t. In fact, Stallone actually made a believable super-powered individual, and also a believable old man. For every Rocky, First Blood, Tango & Cash or Oscar, there’s an Over the Top, Cobra, The Specialist, or Stop, Or My Mom Will Shoot. But Sam suspects that Samaritan might actually still be alive.

We speak to Javon “Wanna” Walton & Dascha Polanco about their roles in Sylvester Stallone's superhero movie Samaritan, now on Prime Video.

Dascha Polanco: And there was a lot going on in the world. It was in kind of a bad area, but it was a lot of fun. And that's something you get to view here; you get to make your decision on who is a true hero. So, definitely a great time and a great person to work with. If you ever talked boxing with him on set, it was truly something special, and I wouldn't trade that for the world. I met Sly at his house, which was super cool, and he wanted to see if he thought I was good for this role, and thankfully he did.