Peter Travers rated the film 3 out of 4 stars for "Rolling Stone", calling it "eighty-two minutes of hardcore pow. [...] You'll be exhilarated – also exhausted." Roger Ebert for the "Chicago Sun-Times" scored the film 3 out of 4 stars, comparing it favorably with "Sin City" as "the most audacious, implausible, cheerfully offensive, hyperactive action picture had seen". Frank Scheck in "The Hollywood Reporter" called it a "ramped-up action movie on steroids" that "makes "Hard Boiled" look restrained". Ebert extended his praise toward the film's acting, calling Owen's character sympathetic and Giamatti's "surprisingly, teeth-gnashingly evil". Scheck complimented Owen's "low-rent James Bond" performance, and was delighted to see Giamatti cast against his usual "nerdy" on-screen persona.