Samaritan focused on Sylvester Stallone's Joe as a superhero coming out of retirement, but the simple plot got derailed by plot holes.
The following contains spoilers for Samaritan, now available on Prime Video.
Samaritan followed a pretty simple plot, with Sylvester Stallone's Joe Smith as a superhero who went into hiding. He retired after battling his evil twin brother, Nemesis, 25 years ago in Granite City, heartbroken after killing the fiend. However, Joe had to emerge into the light once more to save young Sam and the city after someone took up his brother's mantle. Unfortunately, as Samaritan unfolded, so did plot holes and unanswered questions, which took away what little momentum the movie had.
Sam fell in with Cyrus' gang, but after a fallout, they tried to beat him up. Joe showed up and saved the kid, tossing the goons away and even bending one of their rusty knives. However, it was quite a jump for him to assume Joe was Samaritan. Had he seen Joe being bulletproof, surviving a crash or using powers in an extreme sense, this connection would have felt organic.
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Reza hated how Sam showed him up in the gang, so he rallied the others to beat the kid. That didn't add up, though, because Cyrus loved Sam's work and made it clear that he was untouchable. But the scrap happened to have Joe rush in and save the kid. That allowed Cyrus to figure out Samaritan was back, but again, Reza's motives didn't sync up with Cyrus' directive, especially as Reza feared him.
The big twist was Joe wasn't Samaritan -- he was Nemesis. He did try to save Samaritan from the explosion at the power plant decades ago, but he failed. However, the movie never explained why Joe had that change of heart. Joe had apt reason to become this anarchist, as citizens burned their parents alive when they found out about the twins. Had there been some redemption speech or a plea from his brother to change, it'd have made sense.
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Joe was an indestructible Superman, and he had Wolverine's healing factor. He even overheated when regenerating, but it's never confirmed how he and his brother got powers. It'd have been nice to know if they were mutants, metahumans, experiments or aliens. It was a weird mystery to keep close to the vest because it's so important part of the plot.
Nemesis poured all his hatred into a hammer, forging it so he could destroy Granite City and Samaritan. But the movie never explains what Joe did. The hammer could emit massive shockwaves, but it's unknown what tech was behind it or if it had a mystical edge, which would have made it like an evil version of Thor's Mjolnir.
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While the movie showcased Joe's powers, it never divulged Samaritan's abilities. It's assumed he had the same abilities as Joe, but one has to wonder how he died when he fell into the fire at the power plant. Joe was invulnerable, and he could re-form his body, so the film should have detailed why all this didn't work for Samaritan.
Joe's mask and hammer were recovered after he dumped them into the fire, only for the tools to be discovered and impounded. However, it's never explained why anyone would keep this symbolism of terror in a simple building. It allowed Cyrus to raid and steal the gear, but one would think this WMD would get housed somewhere safer. It's also never revealed why Samaritan's items remained in the rubble.
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Joe's main goal was to stay hidden, yet he insisted on fighting in broad daylight. It's understandable he had to intervene to save Sam, but when Cyrus' thugs come after him, thinking he's Samaritan, Joe leads them into an alleyway. He then battered them, which allowed the homeless folk and people near the freeway to see and record him. Joe should have baited them into a dark spot to protect his identity.
Reza didn't die, and the problem is that he knows Joe's secret and the importance of Sam. Thus, Joe's still at risk, and Reza could always send new goons after Sam and his mom. Joe had no problem killing, as he was an antihero, so if he really wanted to protect his secret and his apprentice, he should have tied up loose ends, ending Reza the same way he did Cyrus.
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Joe atoned when he leaped out of Cyrus' burning lair and saved Sam. The kid then told the media Samaritan was back -- not just to prop a heroic symbol up and scare criminals, but to show Joe he could take up his brother's mantle. But the film ended with Joe going off into a tunnel, never affirming if he'll return into hiding or mask up as a vigilante to honor his fallen twin.
Apart from the end, there was absolutely no police presence. One would think the cops would have tried to scour for Samaritan and Nemesis when footage leaked Joe's heroics and when Cyrus took up the mask and hammer. That never happened, and no military force came when Cyrus riled up a cult to burn various parts of the city. In fact, the movie didn't even address what happened with these anarchists by the time Samaritan ended.
See how these plot holes and unanswered questions arise in Samaritan, now available on Prime Video.
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