Metacritic reviews

Quite an entertaining genre piece boasting a terrifically sinewy lead performance from Wanda De Jesus.

Too muted to have much lasting impact, and remains modestly diverting only on a scene-to-scene basis. There's no quotable dialogue, no standout action sequence, no flashy supporting performances -- in short, nothing to lift Illegal Tender from the level of competent but inconsequential B-movie.

For a second, the movie has the snap of a truly surprising thriller -- like a Hispanic "Kill Bill" -- about an aging lioness willing to kill to protect her cub.

A throwback to 1970s blaxploitation flicks, with a Latin accent, Illegal Tender would be a brassy, sassy guilty pleasure if it were more, well, pleasurable.

This tale of crime and punishment is wrapped in a veneer of flashy attitude but founders on mundane details.

What kind of movie is misdirected, poorly acted, preposterously written--and still wholly entertaining? A B-movie, of course. While Illegal Tender has misguided pretensions towards Serious Filmmaking, it's surprisingly likeable if you see it instead as a cheesy thriller good for a lazy Friday night.

Never gets the mixture right, lurching between bullet-happy shootouts and overwrought domestic content.

For a film about growing up, Illegal Tender loses itself in a lot of silly juvenilia.

We’re too bored to have fun.

The real mystery here is why this slapdash semi-effort didn't go straight to video.