Szamaritánus

A great and seemingly underrated flick. An honestly constructed story about an old garbage man who is more than he seems. Rocky-like advice and reasoning turns into an action-packed romp in the second half. Stallone growls and throws people through walls. The hammer tapping has drive and something to say about good and evil. Very good. (2024.08.07)

I'll be honest, Julius Avery blew me away with his previous film, Overlord, from 2018. It was a movie that unexpectedly made it into my personal top picks for that year. So I was eagerly anticipating how this superhero project starring Sylvester Stallone would turn out. I personally liked that Samaritan kept things grounded, with no crazy digital effects running wild. The action is well-shot, focusing primarily on hand-to-hand combat, where Sylvester still shows his old skills. The story doesn’t have much to offer in terms of excitement, and Granite City could have been used more effectively. The script also doesn’t stand out much, but I didn’t expect that one twist—I was honestly stunned. Occasionally, there’s weaker CGI (which I understand, given the lower budget), and the lack of a more satisfying ending is a bit disappointing. On the other hand, Stallone carries a lot of the weight on his shoulders (the man still delivers). Plus, the top-notch soundtrack is a bonus. So, it’s a decent watch that doesn’t disappoint. For me, it’s a 6/10. (2022.09.12)

The film brought back memories of action blockbusters from the 80s and early 90s. An extremely simple story with a mystery that I unraveled much sooner than it had been intended. I didn't have to bother thinking too hard about it because there was no deeper philosophical message behind the simplicity. It was just a kind of unpretentious action/superhero film. It’s been a while since I last enjoyed a comic book movie. Sylvester Stallone has still got it, the little guy could have been a lot more annoying, and I ended up having a pretty decent time. I couldn't help but notice one oddity, though. Because of stupid quotas, black actors play Norse gods or Valkyries, English knights, or Afro-Elves (it’s even worse than it sounds), which annoys me to no end. However, when it comes to a looting mob, it's three-quarters white, *slow clap*. Oh well, the movie world is full of hypocrisy. I slightly overrated the film because I was annoyed by how the viewers rated it compared to all that highly-praised crap. / Lesson learned: Don't look at the world through rose-colored glasses, it's actually a much less striking color. Mostly grey. (2022.10.09)

Samaritan is exactly the kind of feel-good action movie that I enjoy watching. The characters may be classic archetypes of similar films: hero vs villain, along with supporting characters and sidekicks, but I liked them, and Stallone surprisingly managed to play some emotion and was "okay" in the action. What disappointed me the most is the PG13 rating, if there was R-rated, with the amount of action and kicks it certainly wouldn't have been wasted, on the contrary, it would have managed to add some seriousness, and I might have gone higher with the rating. I was most disappointed by the finale, until then I was convinced this was a four-star affair that would be a climax and a highlight among similar films, but it seemed to lack drive and originality and unfortunately slipped into the classic template. The potential was probably greater, but I still can't say anything worse. (2022.08.29)