Samaritan is a 2022 American superhero film directed by Julius Avery and written by Bragi F. Schut. Described[2] as a gritty and dark take on superhero movies, the story was previously adapted[a] into the Mythos Comics graphic novels by Schut, Marc Olivent, and Renzo Podesta. It is a co-production of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Balboa Productions. The film stars Sylvester Stallone in the main role, Javon "Wanna" Walton, Pilou Asbæk, Dascha Polanco, and Moisés Arias. The story follows a kid who suspects that his neighbor is secretly a superhero who was believed to have died many years prior.
Superhumans Samaritan and Nemesis were antagonistic twin brothers who lived in Granite City, where the residents at the time burned down their home in an effort to kill them, only for the twins to escape, while their parents died in the fire. Samaritan grew up to become a superhero as a way to show the world that he is nothing like how they originally viewed him in the past, whereas Nemesis, consumed by revenge, became a supervillain that wanted the world to suffer the same fate as their parents. Evenly matched, the villainous Nemesis crafts a mystical sledgehammer that gave him an edge over the heroic Samaritan. However, the hammer could hurt both brothers. During a confrontation at the city's power plant, both were apparently killed as the plant exploded, blacking out the city. Many people remain fans of Samaritan, and there are constant rumors that he is still alive.
Twenty five years later, thirteen-year-old Sam Cleary tries his best to help his mother with their financial crisis, and, after being threatened with eviction, he accepts a job from a gang headed by Reza. The plan goes awry and Reza tries to blame Sam, but the real gang leader, Cyrus, is impressed and personally gives Sam $110. Reza and his friends later attack Sam as payback but are stopped by Joe Smith, a garbage collector who lives in an apartment across from Sam's. Joe displays super-strength in fighting off the gang members, and Sam suspects that he is Samaritan. Meanwhile, Cyrus locates Nemesis' hammer at a police station and sets himself up as the new Nemesis, sparking riots and chaos throughout the city, using EMP grenades to black out and disrupt the city infrastructure.
After Sam confronts him, Joe denies that he is Samaritan, but Reza - still looking for revenge - hits him with his car. Joe is badly injured but heals before Sam's eyes, overheating so much he has to be cooled down in a cold shower and by eating ice cream. Joe and Sam build a friendship, while at the same time Cyrus invites Sam to work with his gang. However, Sam is disturbed when he witnesses their violent activities.
When Joe saves a young girl from an explosion caused by the gang, the media claims that Samaritan is back threatening Cyrus' plans. Reza recognizes Joe as being the same person he "killed" with his car and thus his identity and connection to Sam. Finding Joe's apartment empty, they kidnap Sam and his mother to lure Joe to their headquarters as a trap. Joe breaks into the headquarters, and decimates the gang before being confronted by Cyrus, now dressed as Nemesis and wielding the hammer. Despite his strength, Joe is weakened from the gang fight, and at a disadvantage against the hammer giving Cyrus the upper hand. As they fight, with Cyrus calling himself Nemesis, and Joe "the good guy", Joe reveals that Samaritan did die during the power plant fire, and Joe is actually Nemesis, who survived but left his villainous life behind, having been freed from his need of revenge. It is shown in flashback that Samaritan had effectively won the fight, but refused to kill Nemesis, instead tossing the hammer away, still viewing him as his brother. The roof subsequently gave way, leaving Samaritan hanging precariously above the flames. Despite his best efforts and a change of heart, Nemesis was unable to save his brother, instead tossing both of their masks into the same fire that Samaritan fell into. Destroying the hammer, Joe kills Cyrus by knocking him into a burning abyss - the same way Samaritan died - but almost overheats from his healing abilities and the spreading fire. Sam breaks open a pipe to shower him with water, allowing Joe to recover enough to escape with Sam by jumping out a window.
When Sam questions Joe about being Nemesis, he says that he is. He tried to save his brother and has been wracked with guilt for his atrocities, that the death of Samaritan was his fault, and he couldn't move past it. He tells Sam that there is good and evil in all people, and that Sam has to make the right decisions. As the police arrest Reza and the remaining members of Cyrus' gang, Joe leaves, overhearing Sam tell the press that "Samaritan" survived and saved him, leaving his future unknown.
In February 2019, it was announced that MGM had acquired a spec script by Bragi F. Schut titled Samaritan to be co-produced with Balboa Productions.[3] Schut had written the screenplay prior to adapting the story in a series of graphic novels published by Mythos Comics.[4] In September 2019, Julius Avery joined the production as director.[5]
In September 2019, filming was scheduled for a 2020 start date in Atlanta.[5][9] Filming was confirmed to have commenced by February 26, 2020.[10] On March 14, the production went on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] By October 8, 2020, filming had resumed.[12]
The release of Samaritan was delayed several times, having previously scheduled to be released theatrically on November 20, 2020, December 11, 2020, and June 4, 2021.[13][14] The film was released on August 26, 2022, in the United States by United Artists Releasing and Amazon Studios, the latter having purchased MGM that same year, via streaming on Prime Video.[15][16][17][18]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 38% of 115 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Although Samaritan is better than it could have been, this Stallone-led superhero drama is creatively underpowered."[19]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[20]
Notes
^ abAlthough the film was written as a spec script initially, the Mythos Comics graphic novels were published first in 2014.
