He begins to receive contracts to kill criminals who avoid arrest with their money and influence.

When Matt returns to the church, he swears that he will avenge the clergyman's death, despite Steve's urgent requests to stay out of the situation.

Blue and Drea show up to support Matt, much to the surprise of Steve, and a gunfight ensues.

As a trump card, Steve reveals that he is holding Becky hostage, and threatens to kill her if Matt does not back down.

The film was better received than many of Seagal's DTV efforts, which have generally been met with disappointment from fans.

David Nusair of Reelfilm.com claimed the film, "...undeniably does continue the upward trend of Steven Seagal's career trajectory as of late..." and that it sports, "...a number of surprisingly decent hand-to-hand fighting sequences... echoing some of the best efforts of his early days," though he criticizes the slow pace of the screenplay.

[3] Seagalogy author Vern praised the film, calling it "a classic of the DTV era," commending the film's better-than-usual cast (particularly Lance Henriksen and Paul Calderón), nuanced storyline, and Seagal's willingness to play an older, more flawed character than he typically does.

He compares it to Jean-Claude Van Damme's 2007 film Until Death and Abel Ferrara's 1992 film Bad Lieutenant in its subversion of action icons through the use of an unusually flawed protagonist, and claims that, "[Pistol Whipped] has Seagal stretching his persona and exploring new territory without abandoning his classic themes".