In 2006, Sylvester Stallone did what he does best: rise from the ashes and re-establish himself as a star, this time with “Rocky Balboa.” The mournful, reflective entry in Sly’s long-running franchise was surprisingly moving and introduced a whole new generation to Stallone’s acting prowess and “keep pushing forward” ethos. That’s ostensibly the mantra of the Italian Stallion himself, but it also stands as a pretty good description of the actor’s own career.
While you might have expected the “Rambo” star to use this revitalization of his acting career to provide fans with similar showcases of his dramatic abilities, Sly instead began churning out a string of generic direct-to-home-media actioners and doubling down on his reputation as one of the biggest ’80s action stars by assembling an all-star team of similar actors with the “Expendables” films. He also found time for a bizarre cameo in a Bollywood film that has to be seen to be believed.
Aside from 2008’s “Rambo,” his appearances in the “Creed” movies, and some voice acting roles, Stallone’s post-“Rocky Balboa” career has been marked by a series of forgettable action thrillers with titles like “Backtrace,” “Bullet to the Head,” and “Alarum.” Even his long-awaited team-up with Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Escape Plan” devolved into a strange direct-to-video franchise. With that in mind, at least 2022’s “Samaritan” seemed to have an element of originality to its premise.
Written by Bragi F. Schut, “Samaritan” was a strange mishmash of a movie that combined a lugubrious “Rocky Balboa”-style Sly with, well, a superhero story. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the film wasn’t Stallone’s finest moment, and critics certainly weren’t about to let him off the hook for it. But it seems “Samaritan” has finally found its place in the world: Tubi. Users of the free streaming platform have sent Sly’s ill-fated superhero drama climbing the charts, where it’s actually been hanging out for quite some time.
Samaritan has risen from the ashes to become a Tubi hit
In “Samaritan” Sylvester Stallone plays Samaritan, a former superhero who was thought to have died in a battle with his twin brother and rival, Nemesis, 20 years prior. In the present day, a 13-year-old boy named Sam Cleary (Javon “Wanna” Walton) suspects his reclusive neighbor, Mr. Smith, of being Samaritan himself. With Granite City experiencing a rise in crime, it’s up to Sam to convince Mr. Smith to embrace his former vigilante identity to save the city from falling into chaos.
When it was released on August 26, 2022, nobody really seemed to care too much about “Samaritan” and its odd mix of drama and superheroism. Now, however, the Tubi crowds are giving this Stallone oddity a renaissance of sorts. Originally released via Amazon’s Prime Video service, the movie is currently part of the expansive Tubi catalog, which is said to be the largest of all the streaming services. How fans managed to find “Samaritan” amid the crammed Tubi servers remains unclear, but the film is actively charting and has been for some time.
According to FlixPatrol, a site that tracks streaming viewership data, “Samaritan” has been holding somewhat steady in the U.S. Tubi rankings for the last two weeks before recently making a run. At the time of writing, the movie is the number two most-watched film on the service. It follows the film hitting number eight as of March 26, 2025, before falling out of the rankings altogether on March 28. But Stallone’s superhero drama came back strong the following day, hitting number four before rising to the second spot on March 30. It’s now been there for three days straight and looks set to take the top spot by the end of the week.
Is Samaritan worth watching?
As he demonstrated in “Rocky Balboa,” Sylvester Stallone has a knack for playing a “past his prime” former icon. In “Samaritan,” however, his somber “I don’t do that anymore” persona doesn’t quite fit into what is an unusual superhero tale, and the critics weren’t convinced. “Samaritan” has a 38% and a 4.8 out of 10 average rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which certainly isn’t the worst rating Stallone has ever received. (By having the most Razzie nominations, he holds a record that no actor wants.)
Prior to the film going into production, Bragi Schut had turned “Samaritan” into a series of graphic novels. But when director Julius Avery (“The Pope’s Exorcist”) got ahold of the source material, he couldn’t quite get a handle on the tone — at least according to critics. The Sydney Morning Herald described “Samaritan” as a “blend of ultra–violent ’80s action flick and grim, dark 21st-century superhero fantasy,” which in and of itself doesn’t sound like the worst idea. But the blend wasn’t quite right. News.Au critic Wenlei Ma similarly described “Samaritan” as a film that “doesn’t know what it should be,” writing that even Stallone’s star power can’t save it from an “identity crisis.”
Still, Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times seemed to like it, referring to “Samaritan” as “a solidly entertaining riff on classic comic-book themes, with a blockbuster polish and an indie-film spirit.” Clearly the Tubi users feel the same … and with Larry the Cable Guy’s “Witless Protection” currently at number one on the service, Stallone should have no problem knocking that four-percenter out of the top spot.