"Samson"

For those who remember Sunday school, most of us were taught the story of Samson and his amazing strength and where it led him in his final days, but not many of us were told the whole story as to who Samson was and the purpose of his God-like strength.

Samson (Taylor James) was prophesized since birth that he would serve "The Living God" with his strength and would lead his Hebrew people to rise up against the oppressing Palestinians led by King Balek (Billy Zane) and his horrible son Rallah (Jackson Rathbone). There are three vows that Samson is bound to, he cannot drink, he cannot touch the dead and he cannot cut his hair and for much of his life he is able to follow them, but when he falls for a Palestinian woman named Taren (Frances Sholto-Douglas) who is in service to Rallah, he finds himself wanting to have some say in his destiny and chooses to marry Taren.
During the ceremony Samson comes to face with Rallah who has been following the stories of Samson and the encounter leads to a feud between them that will stretch over the years and take many of Samson's loved ones from him. When it all seems lost for Samson, he finds comfort in the relationship he develops with Rallah's once lover Delilah (Caitlin Leahy) who will put Samson on the path of his ill, but victorious destiny.

I honestly never got to learn much about Samson during my years of Sunday school and seeing his story being brought to life and the struggle he faced from a ruthless enemy to living up to a destiny he never asked for made the legend seem human. While there were some inaccuracies like the appearance of corn in one scene since they would not have had any in that time and it is only mentioned in the bible since the word corn comes from the word grain and was translated to corn when the bible was translated to English. Yet despite a technicality, the emotional performance by Taylor James on his journey and the cynical hatred projected by Jackson Rathbone made these Biblical rivals real on the screen and thus deserve four G.M.Stars for a cinematic experience that triumphs over bigotry and prejudice.

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