Samaritan - My review and analysis of the 2022 Stallone movie

Surprisingly deep for a Stallone movie (spoilers!)

A wonderful and uplifting movie and story with some relatively deep messages that I didn't expect in a superhero movie starring Stallone. The twist was good too and nicely build up, though maybe they were building up the twist a bit too well. Cause if you think about it, the title itself already gives away the twist, at least to someone who is familiar with the Bible and knows what "Samaritan" refers to.

Cause a "good Samaritan" isn't simply a good guy, but is actually someone who because of his heritage, upbringing, surroundings and expectations made of him, is initially regarded as being bad, but who through his actual actions shows himself to have become good in the end. Which is exactly what Stallone's character (Joe) goes through. So in a way, he really is the good Samaritan of the story and the true antagonist Cyrus, really is the perfect "nemesis" for him as they are actually perfect counterparts.

While Joe becomes good, Cyrus becomes bad. While Joe starts fighting crime, Cyrus instigates it. While Joe bears his cross, Cyrus breaks the cross (literally). Joe is a loner who avoids crowds and hates getting attention, while Cyrus baths in crowds, leads them and incites them, and while Joe goes around looking for broken things (both objects as well as people) that he can fix, Cyrus believes in "Ordo ab Chao" or to put it more direct, in breaking things before things can be rebuild.

Talking on a deeper lever, there is both Christian and occult symbolism in this movie, though unlike with many other Hollywood movies, the occult aspects aren't glorified. And though the movie appears to be morally ambiguous, it actually isn't. Joe might seem like a very unchristian hero, but in the end he is probably the most Christian hero seen in a mainstream Hollywood movie in a long time.