Samaritan (2022)

If you want the short version, I really did not like this movie. It is violent, dark, and yet despite all this, there is not much of a take home message, or something to think about, or even action based entertainment. The later is what saves the Marvel Universe for me, but this has none of that. It is a dystopian futuristic setting called Granite City, which has all the noir, graffiti and grit of a Bladerunner set. In it we focus on Sam, a 13 year old tween who is obsessed with the superhero Samaritan and his anti-hero twin brother Nemesis. He draws notebooks full of Samaritan’s exploits and spray paints his logo on dumpsters. He even has one of those walls you see in conspiracy movies, except his is on his closet door. In Sam's search for a hero, he becomes focused on his next door neighbor, a garbage man named Joe, might be the real deal. He’s played by a gray-bearded Sylvester Stallone, which is a reveal, of course. Joe arouses suspicion when he beats up the aforementioned teenagers after they turn against Sam. Even further arousals of suspicion occur when Sam breaks into Joe’s house and finds a scrapbook filled with newspaper clips about Samaritan. The movie then meanders through violent interactions to an unsatisfying end.