It’s hard to separate the facts from the paranoid conspiracy theories when it comes to McAfee, which can make “Running With the Devil” feel a little scattered - like reading a bunch of fevered diary entries. In between those “you are there” sequences, Russell fills in some of the details of his subject’s life, from his start as a pioneer of antivirus software to his end as a radical libertarian, surrounded by drugs, guns and chaos. Years later, McAfee invited King to film him as he fled again, on a boat to the Caribbean. And while McAfee was on the lam - as one of the most famous criminals in the world - multiple reporters started following him, chasing a strange story barreling toward a dark end.Ī lot of Charlie Russell’s documentary “Running With the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee” is drawn from footage shot by video journalist Robert King, who was on assignment with Vice reporter Rocco Castoro when McAfee snuck across the border from Belize to Guatemala. That’s how he ended up a fugitive from multiple countries, wanted for everything from tax fraud to murder. The late tech entrepreneur John McAfee was one of those mega-wealthy folks convinced he knew best how the world should work - and that unless the people in charge let him run things, he was under no obligation to follow their rules. ‘Running With the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee’ For most of its running time, though, this is a well-crafted and surprisingly thoughtful take on heroes and antiheroes, illustrating the problems that ensue whenever ordinary citizens pin their hopes on the powerful rather than trying to solve problems themselves. It’s hard to make scenes of super-strong people punching each other in crumbling buildings look striking or new and so inevitably, “Samaritan” becomes way too generic down the stretch. Paradoxically, the movie gets less exciting once its action sequences ramp up - after a third-act twist that anybody who’s ever read a comic should anticipate. The premise of “Samaritan” is the stuff of cartoons, but the actors makes the stakes feel real. Both Stallone and the assured young actor Walton give fine, nuanced performances - as does Asbaek. Schut do their best work in the film’s first hour, where they establish the bleakness of their setting and capture the spark of optimism in Sam after he meets Joe. Javon Walton plays Joe’s young neighbor Sam, a Samaritan fanboy who becomes convinced Joe is secretly his dead hero - and if so, he can help free Granite City from a charismatic crimelord and Nemesis disciple named Cyrus (Pilou Asbaek).ĭirector Julius Avery and screenwriter Bragi F. Sylvester Stallone plays Joe Smith, a garbageman in Granite City, a blighted, crime-ridden metropolis still reeling from the loss of its champion, Samaritan, in a battle to the death with his villainous brother, Nemesis. Still, taken on its own terms, “Samaritan” remains a solidly entertaining riff on classic comic-book themes, with a blockbuster polish and an indie-film spirit. The pandemic-delayed grim-and-gritty superhero thriller “Samaritan” originally was scheduled for release in 2020 in the years since, TV series like “The Boys” and “Invincible” have stolen some of the movie’s thunder by doing their own deconstructing and reconstructing of caped-crusader mythology.
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