Intrigued by the trailer, this looked like it could have been a real gritty and compelling story, but I think the film only partially delivered. It takes on a comic book air at the outset with a narrative of a super-hero attempting to save Granite City from a hostile nemesis named..., well, Nemesis. Both presumed dead now for twenty-five years, the city, and particularly one young boy, have reason to believe that the hero called Samaritan somehow survived a fiery death and will come out of the shadows to take on a new villain with a mission to shut down the city's electrical grid and return power to its citizens, which in this case refers to the low-life elements who would run amok and loot the city for all its worth.
We've seen Sylvester Stallone as the unassuming hero before ("Rocky", 1976), as well as the hassled ex-military man on the run and forced to defend himself against an out of control, narrow minded sheriff ("First Blood", 1982). In this one, something felt off about his character, Joe Smith. It sounded like he was trying to change his voice for the part, and it felt unnatural. The young kid Sam Cleary (Javon 'Wanna' Walton) was okay, but it felt like the script couldn't decide if he was going to turn out a good kid or a bad one. Swayed by his insistence that Joe Smith was once the city's champion Samaritan, Sam forces Joe to take on Granite City's new Nemesis Cyrus (Pilou Asbæk) with three simple words - "You help people".
The film offers enough clues as to the real identity of Joe Smith, harking back a quarter century ago, but the reveal turns things slightly on its head as we come to grips with a former villain attempting to seek redemption as Granite City's new hero. Combined with some supernatural elements in the story, like the hand forged hammer reminiscent of Marvel's Thor, the story came across as just slightly contrived and derivative. Not to say it was bad and not worth seeing, but I guess what I expected was something more.
P. S. Keep an eye on the body language expressed in the scene of Reza's (Moises Arias) thugs running down Joe in their car. Joe's body is splayed in a crucifixion pose, calling to mind a similar scene at the finale of "Cool Hand Luke".
We've seen Sylvester Stallone as the unassuming hero before ("Rocky", 1976), as well as the hassled ex-military man on the run and forced to defend himself against an out of control, narrow minded sheriff ("First Blood", 1982). In this one, something felt off about his character, Joe Smith. It sounded like he was trying to change his voice for the part, and it felt unnatural. The young kid Sam Cleary (Javon 'Wanna' Walton) was okay, but it felt like the script couldn't decide if he was going to turn out a good kid or a bad one. Swayed by his insistence that Joe Smith was once the city's champion Samaritan, Sam forces Joe to take on Granite City's new Nemesis Cyrus (Pilou Asbæk) with three simple words - "You help people".
The film offers enough clues as to the real identity of Joe Smith, harking back a quarter century ago, but the reveal turns things slightly on its head as we come to grips with a former villain attempting to seek redemption as Granite City's new hero. Combined with some supernatural elements in the story, like the hand forged hammer reminiscent of Marvel's Thor, the story came across as just slightly contrived and derivative. Not to say it was bad and not worth seeing, but I guess what I expected was something more.
P. S. Keep an eye on the body language expressed in the scene of Reza's (Moises Arias) thugs running down Joe in their car. Joe's body is splayed in a crucifixion pose, calling to mind a similar scene at the finale of "Cool Hand Luke".