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Movie Review: 'Samson'

'Samson' could have been far worse.

By Sean PatrickPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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The biggest success for the movie Samson is that it isn’t completely terrible. That is not something that can be said of most Pureflix movies. The Pureflix brand of pandering, hateful, choir preaching religious entertainment tends to be terrible as both a movie and as a piece of religious propaganda. Samson is, at the very least, moderately entertaining. The makers of Samson stick to closely to the biblical legend and leave the propaganda to the hateful likes of the God's Not Dead franchise.

Taylor James stars as Samson, a character who is usually inextricable from his beloved Delilah, who, in the bible is entwined in his legend. Here, however, Delilah (Caitlin Leahy) is a scheming yet dull femme fatale with little notable character. Samson is the chosen "Judge’ of the Hebrew people, a man called upon by God to be his meter of biblical justice on Earth.

Samson, however, does not relish the role of Judge, he would much rather live a simple life of dedication to God rather than spend his time battling injustice with his massive, God given strength. This begins to change as the tyrannous Rallah (Jackson Rathbone) begins abusing the power over the Hebrew people given to him by his father, King Balek (Billy Zane). When Rallah murders Samson’s would be wife over a wager, Samson finally begins to move toward the position of Judge given to him by divine right.

Samson tracks very closely to the biblical story of Samson. As Judge Samson has taken three vows, one, that he will not drink of the vine, i.e drink wine, two: that he will not touch the bodies of the dead and three: that he will not cut his lustrous long hair. Throughout the story Samson is caused to break each of his vows and then must beg God for forgiveness and the restoration of his strength.

The allegory is about remaining dedicated to God regardless of the circumstances and Samson’s faith is what continues to restore him throughout his trials. That story is well told in Samson and much credit goes to Taylor James and his natural charisma. James has a big personality and while he lacks dramatic range, he’s likable and that goes a long way in a movie that is not very good.

The biggest problem of Samson is the unceasing pace which rushes through the trials of Samson as if it were a greatest hits highlight reel. Samson defeats an Egyptian strongman, Samson kills a lion with his bare hands, Samson marries and watches his wife murdered, Samson defeats an entire Philistine army legion using only the jawbone of an ass. It all happens so quickly and is filmed with so little flourish that the story hardly resonates. Nothing becomes memorable and this big story is filmed like your average entry in the Fast and Furious franchise minus the skill and fun.

The other big problem in Samson is Jackson Rathbone, an unceasingly awful actor. Rathbone is perhaps best known for the odd faces he pulled as one of Edward Cullen’s charisma-free siblings in the Twilight franchise. But Rathbone reached his acting nadir as Sokka in the abysmal film adaptation of The Last Airbender. It’s hard to have been the worst thing in a movie directed by M. Night Shyamalan, but Rathbone achieved that dubious feat. In Samson, Rathbone isn’t that bad, but he’s close.

Rathbone's Rallah is a whiny little man-boy, at once smug and childish. I am not familiar enough with the biblical story of Samson or what role Rallah might have played in that story, but I cannot imagine that the biblical character would be easily compared to a weasely internet troll, but that is certainly how Rathbone plays him. It doesn’t help Rathbone that he’s acting across from Billy Zane at his absolute most bored. Only professional courtesy seems to keep Zane from literally yawning at the start of each of his line readings.

Samson could have been far worse. It could have been yet another ugly screed from Pureflix that dedicates more time to scorning non-believers than to genuine faith. Samson, at least, values faith above all things. Samson is a deeply faithful character in the movie and his dedication is part of the charm of Taylor James’s performance. Yes, he’s driven by vengeance against the Philistines, but it’s his dedication to God that is the driving force, not a bloodlust against people who don’t believe.

For not being yet another hateful piece of propaganda, and because Taylor James seems like a genuinely good dude, I don’t hate Samson, even though I don’t think it is a very good movie.

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About the Creator

Sean Patrick

Hello, my name is Sean Patrick He/Him, and I am a film critic and podcast host for the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast I am a voting member of the Critics Choice Association, the group behind the annual Critics Choice Awards.

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