Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com was much less positive, describing the film as 'The paint-by-numbers Irish revenge thriller "Black 47" is essentially "First Blood" in period dress.' He also noted the 'cringe-worthy expository dialogue' and described Martin as a 'character whose only sympathetic qualities are his unrestrained anger and proficiency at murdering people. It's entirely possible that Martin makes more sense to Irish viewers, since they can presumably relate with Martin's anti-British sentiments better than this reviewer did. Unfortunately, in the film, Martin often comes across like any other crazed, but ostensibly relatable antihero who wracks (sic) up kills and then slumps over in pseudo-tragic exhaustion.'
