You’re never too old to play a superhero. This is the main balcony Samaritan, a new film starring Sylvester Stallone, 76, as an elderly former security guard with special powers who has quietly retired. As former Stallone heroes like Rocky and Rambo have shown time and time again, retirement isn’t always easy for former warriors.
At first glance, Joe Smith (Stallone) doesn’t look like an older version of Samaritan, the former protector of Granite City who disappeared 25 years earlier after sending his evil arch-nemesis named…Nemesis to his death. (Screenwriter Braji F. Shute, who later adapted his screenplay into a graphic novel series, is clearly not interested in coming up with imaginary names for his characters.) Garbageman Joe crawls through the dangerous, dilapidated urban environment with a bushy gray beard. and permanent hood, clearly unwilling to disturb anyone.
Samaritan
He’ll do it in a superhero pinch.
His desire to be alone is thwarted when Joe rescues teenage Sam (a very effective Javon “Wanna” Walton, Euphoria) of being beaten up by a gang of savage youths. After watching Joe dispatch much younger attackers with brutal efficiency, Sam is convinced that his benefactor is actually a superhero who supposedly died in a warehouse fire in his final battle with Nemesis. He is even more convinced after he spies on Joe, who lives across the street, taking off his shirt to reveal deep burn scars on his broad back.
Despite his reckless instincts, Joe ends up falling for the lovable Sam, especially after meeting the boy’s friendly single mother (Dasha Polanco, on the heights), who tries to raise her with her meager nurse’s salary. Not long after, the gang takes revenge on Joe, running him over with a car after being spotted on the street.
“He is well?” asks Sam, who witnessed the attack. “No way!” Joe responds, exemplifying the film’s sometimes irreverent wit. Another imaginative twist comes with Joe’s method of healing himself after a serious injury, which apparently causes his body to become dangerously overheated. He refreshes himself with a large number of ice cream cones kept in the fridge for this purpose.
Joe ends up getting into a more serious fight with a gang led by the evil Cyrus (Pilous Asbaek of Touch thrones as a born villain) who idolizes Nemesis and is determined to destroy Granite City. There doesn’t seem to be much to tear down, as thanks to Christopher Glass and Greg Berry’s hellish production design, the gritty setting makes Gotham City look relatively charming.
Directed by Julius Avery (Son of a gun, sir) strives for a dark aesthetic, but what it achieves visually is marred by unintentional procedural nonsense and lines as corny as Joe advising his opponent to “explode” just before a bomb is dropped on him. However, there’s a clever plot twist in the final act that, while unimportant, provides a welcome trick.
Stallone provides just the right amount of world-weary seriousness and deadpan humor to the corny material. And he still has the physical stamina to make it quite believable to see his character beating up men his age. While the film’s debut on Amazon Prime Video marks a small entry into the overcrowded superhero genre, it could be the start of a small franchise for the veteran star.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
