Weekend Watch: Samaritan, Star Trek: Lower Decks

Sly Stallone's in hero mode while the funniest Trek show docks on our screens again.

Image Credit: Amazon Studios

Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Sylvester Stallone is a superhero and the funnier side of Star Trek warps back in. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite

We live in an age of superheroes clogging screens big and small. Well, I say clogging, but on the whole, I enjoy a lot of the comic book-based entertainment out there, be it Marvel’s latest Disney+ offering, what remains of the CW’s DC output or the more brutal and satirical likes of The Boys.

Yet not every project that lands flying the flag of superhero storytelling works. And sadly, I must report that a few entertaining moments and a committed performance from Sylvester Stallone aside, Samaritan is among them.

Bragi F. Schut wrote the basic story as a screenplay years ago, but after failing to sell it to studios, he turned it into a graphic novel alongside Marc Olivent and Renzo Podesta. And now, the wheels have turned and it’s a movie again, helped by Sylvester Stallone as producer and star.

Samaritan is set in the grimy, chaotic confines of Granite City (think the Detroit to Gotham’s New York, though it was filmed, like so much these days in Atlanta). Two decades ago, the city’s guardian angel, the hero known as Samaritan went missing and was declared dead after an epic battle with his similarly powered brother, known as Nemesis.

As the city slides further into lawlessness, a teen named Sam Cleary (Javon Walton) becomes convinced that his neighbour, the grumpy, stand-offish and lonely Mr. Smith (Stallone) is, in fact, Samaritan in hiding. And when Smith helps Sam out by fending off some local thugs, Sam becomes ever more convinced that he’s found the person he considers his personal hero.

Schut and director Julius Avery do what they can to drum up interest, and as I mentioned, Sly gives Smith some heart. The problem is that Samaritan feels like a throwback to an older age of superhero movies and rarely moves the needle in terms of excitement or invention.

It’s another situation where the audience is likely to be five steps ahead of the script and that’s not a good idea when one big moment is all a movie has to offer. There are hallmarks of the genre, but none of them comes across as worthwhile and the rest of the story is mundane to such a degree it feels like paint-by-numbers in script form. Sam’s looking for a father figure. The past haunts Smith. Can these two find a connection and help each other? You probably won’t care.

It’s a sad day when a Sly Stallone superhero arrives as, if not a dud, then far from what you might hope it’ll be. This is one Samaritan in need of some help itself.

Samaritan is on Prime Video in the UK and US now.

Image Credit: Paramount+

When Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premiered back in May, I was quick to applaud its brighter tone and less serious cast. While they had their funnier characters and moments, a lot of Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard was given over to more serious endeavours and Strange New Worlds felt like a breath of fresh air.

Yet Trek had already been finding the funny for a couple of years, and in a format that I hadn’t been so swift to check out – animation.

Created by Rick & Morty veteran Mike McMahan, Lower Decks chronicles the adventures – usually more misadventures – of the crew of the USS Cerritos, a California Class ship in service in the 24th Century (and roughly a couple of years after the events of Star Trek: The Next Generation and its movies). While the main bridge crew are your more standard heroic types, albeit with their own quirks, the focus here is on ensigns consigned to much less glamorous duties.

That said, the main foursome – Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) – still get into plenty of scrapes and often end up mixed up in missions that have major ramifications for the Federation.

They’re entertaining company to be in since Mariner is forever pushing boundaries, Boimler’s nervously trying to rise through the ranks, Tendi’s an Orion obsessed with science, while Rutherford enthusiastically works in engineering, and together they make up an appealing group.

Yet even more of the appeal comes from the sheer number of Trek references stuffed into every show. This is a series that lives and breathes Star Trek of all types – and while you don’t have to be a committed Trek nerd (guilty) to catch as many as you can (and they’re not necessary to enjoy the plot), they’re still incredibly fun to find. They’re everywhere: dropped into dialogue, on walls, in planet names and there have even been cameos from different characters including Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker.

Season 3 continues the quality level and the gag ratio of the show, but Lower Decks also functions so well because it remembers the human side of the stories, just as every good Trek series should. These are characters you’ll want to see succeed and their connections grow deeper with every passing season.

Plus, as has been hinted at in the teaser for this season, after a few mentions, the show finally heads to Deep Space Nine for an episode that is a real highlight (though I’ll say no more about it).

Lower Decks is worth watching even if you don’t know your Pakleds from your Prophets.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 will air weekly on Paramount+. The first episode is available now. I’ve seen eight episodes of the season.