Several sequences of this gorefest, which is posed between hyperkinetic martial-arts mayhem and near-static moments of confusion and terror, have a gleeful virtuosity that nearly redeems its lumbering longueurs and generic splatter.
- Richard Brody, New Yorker, December 10, 2012
Day of Reckoning is somehow not just the best film in the series, but a damn fine piece of action filmmaking by any measure.
- Ian Buckwalter, The Atlantic, November 30, 2012
"There... is... no... end" Van Damme announces in between blows. As a comment on the current film, I'll agree. As a prediction - all I can do is shudder.
- Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger, November 30, 2012
An intensity of purpose and a patient, suspenseful directing style make the B-movie "Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning" superior to most of the big-budget action films I've seen lately.
- Kyle Smith, New York Post, November 30, 2012
This bloody wallow in sweat, guns and fisticuffs - for those who swing that way - delivers.
- Andy Webster, New York Times, November 29, 2012
The movie creates something of the sensation of huffing industrial solvents - in a good way! - a waking-sleep zombification that can't exactly be described as pleasurable but definitely has an odd, distinct power.
- Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, November 29, 2012
Universal soldiers, it seems, never die, even if they deserve a slow and deliberate farewell.
- Scott Bowles, USA Today, November 29, 2012
Anyone who stumbles into "Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning" unprepared is bound to leave shellshocked. Not just because of the movie's brutal violence, but from the stunning realization that this grim franchise will never stop regenerating itself.
- Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News, November 29, 2012
Superbly choreographed and filmed action sequences enliven this ultra-violent B-movie.
- Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter, November 29, 2012
So gruelingly violent you half wonder if director John Hyams' goal is to make the audience get up and leave the theater rather than be party to the brutality.
- Clark Collis, Entertainment Weekly, November 28, 2012
Against the prevailing cheerlessness, these intensively choreographed fights, many shot in audacious, roving single takes, are like glimpses into a dream world.
- Chris Packham, Village Voice, November 27, 2012
The grand finale is a series of what appear to be single-take sequences of bone-breaking, bullet-blasting violence, almost all of it presented with a practical-effects, minimal-CGI approach bound to impress genre devotees.
- Joe Leydon, Variety, November 26, 2012
A B-movie that's often bloody, sometimes bizarre, but rarely boring.
- William Goss, Film.com, October 24, 2012
It's almost worth wading through the wearisome setup to get to the fun stuff. But there is a reason fast-forward buttons were invented.
- Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York, November 27, 2012
Like a stiff Schwarzeneggerian conqueror making good on an "I'll be back," John Hyams returns to one-up the franchise again.
- John Semley, Slant Magazine, November 20, 2012
