Chris D., author of Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film described Retaliation as "a decent programmer" and that "staging is effective but occasionally it results in cluttered compositions that contribute to narrative confusion". The review concluded that 'Hasebe takes his story seriously, because the performances and realistically downbeat situations save the picture".[7]
Sight & Sound compared the film to those of Seijun Suzuki who Hasebe had worked with previously as an assistant director.[3] The review stated that Retaliation was "never be quite as visually or conceptually wild as Suzuki's, but they share something of the same breakneck cutting and tumultuous approach to staging action."[3]
Notes
^"Retaliation". Film Society of Lincoln Center. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
^Credits (booklet). Arrow Films. 2015. p. 3. AV007.
