Director: Bruce Macdonald, Gabriel Sabloff
Writer: Jason Baumgardner, Zach Smith, Galen Gilbert, Timothy Rarajczak (Screenplay) Jason Baumgardner, Zach Smith (Story)
Starring: Taylor James, Billy Zane, Lindsay Wagner, Caitlin Leahy, Rutger Hauer, Jackson Rathbone
Plot: After losing the love of his life to a cruel Philistine prince, a young Hebrew with Supernatural strength defends his people, sacrificing everything to avenge his love, his people, and his God.
Tagline – Chosen. Betrayed. Redeemed.
Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Not Very Interesting
Story: Samson starts as a young Hebrew Samson (James) helps feed his small village by stealing from King Balek (Zane) the cruel Philistine ruler, his son Prince Rallah (Rathbone) is tasked to search for Samson to make him part of the crown’s guard.
When Samson meets the beautiful Taren (Sholto-Douglas) he decides he wants to marry her, only she is from the enemy village, Samson must question his own faith before going to war with Rallah to free his people one the Philistine rule.
Thoughts on Samson
Characters – Samson is destine to rule the Hebrew people one day, he was selected by their God to be their messenger, blessed with inhuman strength and set in a rulebook that will keep him strong, he falls in love he ends up going to war with the Philistines finally getting his chance to be the leader he was destine to become. King Balek is the cruel leader that has been making the life of the Hebrews a nightmare, he wants to remain in power and get rid of Samson, the biggest threat. Rallah is the prince that is assigned to go after Samson, he sees this as his chance to impress the King, only using his power to for bloodshed to kill anyone. Delilah is a woman that is being used to make everything unfold for Samson, I could have sworn that in the biblical version of this story, she is the one that he falls in love with.
Performances – Taylor James might have the physical appearance for this role, but he just doesn’t bring the dramatic side of the film. Billy Zane looks like he is enjoying the supporting role, but doesn’t do anything original with his character and Jackson Rathbone does go full-blown over the top in the villainous role.
Story – The story follows Samson a man that was destine to rule his people against the cruel leaders controlling their land, blessed with incredible strength he can’t be beaten unless he breaks the three rules placed on him. This is a story I do remember from the bible, this is one that doesn’t seem to follow it the way I remember what so ever, it was always about Samson and Delilah’s love and betray, with this one we get too much nonsense leading up to what has been happening and just ends up spending too much time not making sense before we get anywhere near the main part of the story from the bible.
Action – The action in the film isn’t shot very well, this is because we have Samson going against a full army, which you can clearly see the member of the army standing back waiting for their moment to attack, rather than acting natural.
Settings – The film keeps the settings for the film simple, they are different sizes of villages or cities, both reflect the numbers and power both sides of the war have.
Scene of the Movie – First big fight.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not the story I remember from the bible.
Final Thoughts – This is a disappoint version of one of the most famous stories of faith and love from the bible, it doesn’t seem to capture everything on the same level it could and ends up just being generic swords and sandal film.
Overall: Disappointing all around.
Rating
