With friends like these, who needs enemies? That's the question bad guy Porter is left asking after his wife and partner steal his heist money and leave him for dead -- or so they think. Five months and an endless reservoir of bitterness later, Porter's partners and the crooked cops on his tail learn how bad payback can be.
It's undone not so much by the shadow of Lee Marvin falling heavily on it (which it does) as by the twin obstacles of big star image and, more to the point, excessive violence.
– Kenneth Turan,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb 2001
rotten:
In the popcorn sense, it certainly delivers on mindless escapism. In the artistic sense, let's just say that Payback is a long way from Point Blank.
– Peter Travers,
Rolling Stone,
11 May 2001
rotten:
It quickly slides into a Lethal Weapon without Danny Glover, complete with blowups and wisecracks, gratuitous torture scenes and Gibson in familiar form as the twinkling rascal who makes a virtue out of viciousness.
– Liam Lacey,
Globe and Mail,
22 Mar 2002
fresh:
A higher class of thriller.
– Mick LaSalle,
San Francisco Chronicle,
18 Jun 2002
fresh:
Demonstrates why Mel Gibson is a movie star: He can take mediocre material and through sheer willpower -- not to mention oodles of charm -- make it work.