Samaritan, the long-awaited, gritty superhero film starring screen icon Sylvester Stallone has finally made its way to Amazon Prime Video. It’s not exactly knocking it out of the park with critics, but given how relentless the film was in the face of three release delays, it’s no question that this movie was a labor of love.
And much of that love came in spades from the likes of a brilliant cast, including Stallone, Javon Walton (The Umbrella Academy, Euphoria), Pilou Asbæk (Uncharted, Game of Thrones), and Dascha Polanco (Orange Is the New Black, In The Heights).
It can be said with equal parts confidence and humility that Stallone’s starring role as a superhero, the most popular archetype in Hollywood at the moment, gave the movie most of its draw, and it appears that the same was true behind the camera, according to Asbæk, who plays gang leader and antagonist Cyrus in the film.
In an interview with Movie Web, Asbæk divulged how blown away he was from the opportunity to work alongside Stallone, noting his geniality and the mentorship he brought to the rest of the cast.
“It was amazing. We have the saying ‘don’t meet your heroes, they can only let you down.’ I can say bull because he is awesome. It was like a master class for a few months. Him telling me how to approach a scene, how to do the stunts, etc. I kind of wish I had more scenes with him, but the weeks we were shooting together, they were great. And he’s a very kind, very generous and great actor. So I’m thankful, and I’m lucky I have gotten to work with him. I think he’s incredible in Samaritan. I think he brings his whole life, all of his knowledge into this film.”
In his review of the movie, WGTC’s own Scott Campbell praised the presence Hollywood legend Stallone brings to the table, but lamented that Samaritan wastes its potential to reinvent the crowded genre and fails to offer up “anything new or noteworthy.” Nevertheless, this is certainly one any Sly fans will want to check out.
Samaritan is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.