Samaritan is a gritty superhero drama that follows Sam Cleary (Javon Walton), a young boy who thinks that a once powerful superhero, Stanley Kominski aka The Samaritan (Sylvester Stallone), has actually been hiding in plain sight, despite many believing that he went missing for more than two decades.
This isn't Sly Stallone's first superhero gig, though, as he's already cropped up in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and as the voice of King Shark in The Suicide Squad.
Samaritan takes a somewhat darker tone your typical superhero flick though. The story was previously adapted into the Mythos Comics graphic novels by Schut, Marc Olivent, and Renzo Podesta, so it looks like this will be strikingly different to Sylvester's other projects in the same space.
When the director, Julius Avery, discussed the film last year with Total Film, he said: "We're going to see Sly do things he hasn't done in a long time, and in a really inventive way. He's 73 years old! I'm amazed by how much he actually does. I'm telling you, most guys in their twenties wouldn't be able to do what Sly does in this movie."
Here's everything we know about Samaritan...
When will Samaritan be released?
Samaritan was released on Prime Video on Friday, August 26, after being postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
What is the plot of Samaritan?
Samaritan focuses on Sam Cleary, a young boy who believes that the legendary superhero, Stanley Kominski, is living amongst ordinary people, despite most of society thinking that he went missing after a battle twenty years earlier.
However, the eager Sam is determined to not lose hope for the city's hero just yet, particularly when he runs into a man who looks exactly like the notorious ex-hero.
Who is in the cast of Samaritan?
Samaritan is fronted by a star-studded cast, with multi-award-winning Hollywood actor Sylvester Stallone taking up the role of superhero Stanley Kominski.
Starring alongside him as the wide-eyed Sam Cleary is Euphoria star Javon Walton, who recently appeared in The Umbrella Academy season 3 on Netflix.
Joining the famed actors are Natacha Karam (The Brave) as SIL, Moises Arias (Hannah Montana) as Percy Smith, Dascha Polanco (Orange is the New Black) as Isabelle, Martin Starr (Freaks and Geeks) as Arthur, Pilou Asbæk (Borgen) as Edwin, Michael Aaron Milligan (Outer Banks) as Tuna and Jared Odrick (Ballers) as Farshad.
Is there a trailer?
Yes! In this action-packed trailer, we see Stan observing the rising level of violence from the comfort of his own home in Granite City, before he saves Sam from some thugs. After that, we get to see the pair as Sam tries to learn why he went into hiding, mixed in with plenty of crunchy fight sequences along the way. Check it out below:
What are the critics saying?
Reviews haven't been too positive for Samaritan. As of September 1, the film has a 38% critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with lots of reviewers finding little to praise.
Benjamin Lee (of The Guardian) said the film was "a fresh spin that feels awfully stale, a Samaritan less good and more mediocre", whilst Empire's John Nugent said "despite some solid work from Sylvester Stallone, it's not really clear what Samaritan is bringing to the table."
However, audience scores are significantly higher (77%), so there might well be plenty there for you to enjoy.
