Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 35% of 23 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.0/10. Kim Na-yeon of Star News praised the direction of the action scenes, such as making the helicopter aerial battle and skydiving fight scene in live action rather than CG, and the intense action performance of Joo Won. Kim Bo-ram in her review for Yonhap News Agency praised the director for creatively weaving "breath-taking action sequences of physical combat, gun fights and large-scale helicopter stunts" but stated that the "latter part of the movie, when the true story of Carter's mission is revealed, makes the majority of the parts, including the fast-paced action scenes, almost tiring." YTN's Kang Nae-ri stated that the film fails to immerse the audience, and the tension decreases towards the second half, but praised Joo Won for his splendid action performance and digesting title role. Writing for Sports Kyunghyang, Lee Da-won criticised the director for using Joo Won's efforts in a crude way. Lee stated that the only good thing about this movie is Joo Won's action sequences but his power lasts less than 20 minutes due to the tattered story and senseless directing.
In his review for South China Morning Post, James Marsh wrote [the film's] "action feels weightless and simulated, even when propped up by Won's insanely physical performance", described the film as "dizzyingly ridiculous" and rated it 2 out of 5 stars. Rohan Naahar, writing for The Indian Express, rated the film 1 out of 5, describing it as "an action film so ridiculous that you'll often wish that you were among the scores of faceless villains whose heads are smashed to a pulp by the film's protagonist", and criticizing the film's resemblance to a video game. Writing for Mashable, Sam Haysom described the opening sequence as "dizzying, fantastically choreographed, ultra-violent, and impressively filmed" so that it "leaves you feeling sea sick and a bit drained" and stated: "The quantity and scale of action is both Carter's greatest strength and its greatest weakness. It's all very well done, but there's just too much of it." Concluding his review, Haysom wrote that the audience is "barely given time to draw a breath — and the film suffers for it."
