- Mark Kermode, BBC Radio Five Live, April 24, 2012
Blackthorn is a handsomely mounted film, with many an awesome vista and rolling plain, but compared to the quicksilver brilliance of its predecessors, it comes off as irredeemably minor.
- Andrew Pulver, Guardian [UK], April 12, 2012
- , Empire Magazine, April 12, 2012
Shepard's crusty charisma gives this dignified genre effort its pulse: a growl-off between his Butch and Jeff Bridges's Rooster Cogburn is surely the next chapter.
- Guy Lodge, Time Out, April 10, 2012
Sam Shepard illuminated the old West - or at least the South American parts - with creaky charisma. He unleashes a growly old timer to rival Rooster Cogburn or Will Munny.
- Ian Nathan, Empire Magazine, April 10, 2012
It ain't Paul Newman and Robert Redford, but it ain't bad.
- Tom Long, Detroit News, October 28, 2011
"Blackthorn" feels less like a proper sequel to "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," which it purports to be, than a coattail rider.
- Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, October 14, 2011
A different kind of Western - somber, reflective and set in the elevated plains and salt flats of Bolivia.
- Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle, October 13, 2011
Each frame is a crystalline jaw-dropper that places the smallish actions of men within a vast canvas of lush jungle, lunar salt flats, Andean snow, and desert sand. The result is a pretty good movie that almost looks better than it needs to.
- Ty Burr, Boston Globe, October 13, 2011
Spanish director Mateo Gil reappraises the last desperado's legend in a funny, violent examination of America and American cowboy films.
- Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 13, 2011
Shepard's performance is one to remember.
- Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer, October 13, 2011
- , Urban Cinefile, June 20, 2012
Sam Shepard delivers a terrific, dry performance as the older Butch Cassidy, his stoic view of life honed by years of reflection and self realisation. It's a well written screenplay and director Mateo Gil makes the most of it
- Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile, June 18, 2012
Embodied effectively by a craggy Sam Shepard, it is not the physicality of Shepard that convinces us of his identity, but his character and the morals by which he lives
- Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile, June 18, 2012
- , Urban Cinefile, June 18, 2012
Although Shepard is perfectly cast as a world-weary outlaw reluctantly drawn into one more adventure, the movie doesn't quite justify the resuscitation of classic film characters for another outing.
- Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald, October 20, 2011
The filmmakers didn't have a lot of options. In some ways the new picture feels like a boxed-in replay.
- John Hartl, Seattle Times, October 13, 2011
It feels as unique as the way the ageing Shepard's eyes appear weirdly independent of the rest of him. He's a bird of prey gazing through the holes in a crumbling wall.
- Antonia Quirke, Financial Times, April 12, 2012
Lonesome Dove with a dash of My Name is Nobody and a side of Ride the High Country, but Shepard, Noriega and the exotic Bolivian locations mark Blackthorn out as a notable entry.
- Adam Lee Davies, Little White Lies, April 12, 2012
In place of a rousing adventure, "Blackthorn" is a haunting ode.
- Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 2011
