Full of violence and blood-spattered gunplay, it's a visually grotty film buoyed mainly by Gibson's never-say-die performance.
- Jim Schembri, 3AW, June 26, 2012
Gibson's character gives a ten year old kid (who becomes a major character, without ever becoming a brat) a cigarette, and the kid lights it up and smokes it. Try getting MGM, Universal, Paramount or Disney to release that.
- CJ Johnson, ABC Radio (Australia), June 04, 2012
Whether there's an agenda underpinning the film or not, Gibson is clearly back in his element here, with plenty of wind still in his sails.
- Ed Gibbs, The Sun Herald, May 27, 2012
- Mark Kermode, BBC Radio Five Live, May 22, 2012
Mel Gibson is back doing what he knows, playing a flawed character with redeeming qualities who is also a resourceful tough guy
- Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile, May 11, 2012
The richness of the prison backdrop is a source of amazement ...described as 'the world's sh*ttiest mall' with food stalls, drugs and sex on demand, guns in plentiful supply and an intimidation-driven system
- Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile, May 11, 2012
[Gibson] and the boy make the kind of cross-generational double act that deservedly went out of fashion with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, although it's superficially toughened up with bad language and cigarettes.
- Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph, May 11, 2012
[A] lively, non-PC caper-thriller, with touches of Elmore Leonard and Quentin Tarantino...
- Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK], May 10, 2012
Superbly constructed, pithily scripted and absurdly entertaining.
- Tom Huddleston, Time Out, May 09, 2012
The closest Mel Gibson's come to playing Martin Riggs since the last Lethal Weapon.
- Dan Jolin, Empire Magazine, May 06, 2012
- Peter Debruge, Variety, April 24, 2012
Almost invigorating in its disreputability; it's both cheesy and striking, corny and bold, dismissible and yet strangely appealing for its singularity.
- Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter, April 20, 2012
Melding Mel, Mexico and mariachi, Grunberg's debut is a watchable action-comedy, if a little throwaway. Good Friday-night fun.
- James Mottram, Total Film, May 10, 2012
The plot thickens to the density of Semtex, then explodes.
- Nigel Andrews, Financial Times, May 10, 2012
A superior genre effort, even if its chances of setting the box office on fire are less than zero.
- David Jenkins, Little White Lies, May 10, 2012
