As preposterous as the plot was, there was never a line of Hackman dialogue that didn't sound as if he believed it. The same can't be said, alas, for Sharon Stone...
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
Rarely dull, it is not noticeably compelling either, and as the derivative offshoot of a derivative genre, it inevitably runs out of energy well before any of its hotshots runs out of bullets.
– Kenneth Turan,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Feb 2001
rotten:
What Raimi can't find is a center. He hankers for us to giggle at the brutal archetypes he's parodying and to warm to them, too. It won't wash, pardner.
– Peter Travers,
Rolling Stone,
12 May 2001
fresh:
Mr. Raimi is limited by a sketch mentality, which means his jokes tend to be over long before his films end. But his tastes for visual mischief and crazy, ill-advised homage can still make for sly, sporadic fun.
– Janet Maslin,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
fresh:
A deadpan black comedy, Sam Raimi's fast-paced movie looks and sounds like a Leone oater but more so.