There's something strangely charming about films that are all artifice, explosions, and naked calculation. 12 Rounds is at least honest trash: It never pretends to be anything other than manic schlock.
50
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
You will probably find yourself praying for this duel's knock-out punch to arrive long before it actually does.
50
L.A. Weekly
L.A. Weekly
This is the kind of amiable time-killer that belongs on a basic-cable weekend afternoon.
38
Boston Globe
Boston Globe
As one of the WWE's marquee pro wrestlers, John Cena is some actor. As a straight actor . . . he's a great wrestler.
38
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
Noisy, cut into a head-snapping blur with little room for Cena to even try showing emotion, 12 Rounds is an occasionally exciting but always empty experience.
There are, as you may have guessed, 12 rounds of this arbitrary nonsense. Annoying as the conceit may be, it neatly functions as a means to gauge how much is left to endure.
12 Rounds is the unholy stepchild of "Die Hard with a Vengeance" and "Speed," starring a man whose lack of range makes Steven Seagal seem nuanced by comparison.
25
TV Guide Magazine
TV Guide Magazine
It's not fun and it gets tiring real fast.
20
The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Cena is no Jason Statham. His stolid seriousness sucks the life right out of any scene in which he's required to speak. It's a bad sign when you repeatedly wish a runaway trolley would silence the hero.
10
Variety
Variety
The viewer, even from a seated position, deserves a championship belt for surviving this overlong actioner.