Movie Nation by Roger Moore

Van Damme is in on the joke, and never for a second lets us see that he’s in on it. That’s what’s the most fun about The Last Mercenary.

Screen Rant by Sarah Bea Milner

The Last Mercenary is Van Damme at his best: his comedic timing is precise (likely because he's acting in his native tongue), and the movie's action set pieces are deeply satisfying.

RogerEbert.com by Simon Abrams

It’s nice to see that the Muscles from Brussels is not only self-aware, but also sharp enough whenever he has to take a baby step or two beyond his own shadow.

The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis

The fight scenes have wit and Van Damme delivers his lines with just the right amount of weary good humor.

Los Angeles Times by Michael Ordona

The plot chugs along with no surprises, but that’s beside the point. While it’s not exactly a laugh riot, the film’s humor tends to land.

IGN by Matt Fowler

The Last Mercenary has bounding energy and a fun take on star Jean-Claude Van Damme's past exploits as an action star, but the humor is way more miss than hit and the actual nuts-and-bolts spy plot is a trudge.

The A.V. Club by Charles Bramesco

The quality of the fight sequences, the main criterion by which we judge a Van Damme picture, tops out at competency; only a showdown incorporating a whipped wet towel recalls the inventive creativity of his strongest work.

Variety by Owen Gleiberman

You could call the film a slightly absurd corruption thriller, an action movie with not enough action, or a by-the-numbers father-son bonding movie. Yet here’s what’s weird about it. The Last Mercenary thinks it’s a comedy, but not because anything in it is actually funny.

CNN by Brian Lowry

After about 15 minutes of The Last Mercenary, though, even if you can't do splits like Van Damme the temptation is to split -- and to paraphrase "Scarface," say goodbye to him and his little friends.