streaming
Rambo star Sylvester Stallone as superhero in new movie Samaritan
Sylvester Stallone as superhero in new streaming movie.
© Ian West/PA Wire / DPA
Sylvester Stallone plays the garbage man Joe. But appearances are deceptive and the taciturn worker turns out to be a superhero.
Every few months, a comic blockbuster from Marvel comes to the cinemas, most recently the new “Doctor Strange” and “Thor” films. Not quite as often, but DC is also regularly represented on the big screen, soon with Dwayne Johnson as “Black Adam”. Independent of the big comic giants and to a certain extent in their shadow, “Samaritan” was released this Friday on the Prime Video streaming service. Sylvester Stallone plays the leading role in the comic adaptation of a lost hero.
Stallone is Joe, who leads a low-key life as a garbage collector in a run-down American city. However, the brash neighbor boy Sam (Javon Walton) is convinced that Joe is not really an inconspicuous guy. He believes that the taciturn man is the missing superhero Samaritan. Samaritan once protected the city from his angry brother Nemesis, who died in a battle between the two men endowed with supernatural powers. But Joe denies that.
Villain reactivates the former superhero
With unemployment, homelessness and rising social tensions, crime is on the rise. The malicious, psychopathic Cyrus (“Game Of Thrones” star Pilou Asbaek) wants to take advantage of this. He seeks the missing weapon and helmet of Nemesis in order to assume the villain’s identity and seize control of the increasingly chaotic city. Eventually, this gets Joe, who is otherwise so listless, on the scene.
The basic idea is nice, but the implementation is too routine to be carried away. The dialogues are cliche, as are the characters. You’ve already seen a lot, for example in “Last Action Hero”. It takes a long time for anything to happen – and the action scenes are repetitive. In the past, such a film would have ended up directly in the video store. “Samaritan” was originally intended to be released in cinemas. It is only logical that it is now premiered in the streaming sector.
However, not everything is bad. Villain Asbaek has something seriously frightening, young Walton convinces as a likeable teenager looking for orientation – and above all Sylvester Stallone in his mid-70s is as charismatic as ever. The story even has a spectacular twist ready, which is good for the film. Unfortunately, it is not really used either.