‘John Wick meets Sicario’ in 85 minutes: Netflix’s new action film is 8th of all time with 66.9 million views
Counterattack took 18.6 million views in its first three days and has now passed 66.9 million.
Right, so Netflix trawls the globe for fresh action blood, and every so often one of these films absolutely explodes out of nowhere. Their latest hit? A Mexican action-thriller called Counterattack — not exactly a subtle title, but fair enough, since this one doesn't mess about.
‘Counterattack’ is currently ranked #8 in the Top 10 Most Popular Non-English Movies on Netflix of all time, racking up 66.9 million views and nearly 95 million viewing hours worldwide.
The premise kicks off standard enough: five mates step in when a mother and daughter are about to be abducted by gangsters. But what the baddies don’t realise is they’ve just picked a fight with five lads who happen to be former Mexican Special Forces — we're talking skilled operators, not your average pub brawler. Turns out these guys are called the Murciélagos (that's 'bats' to you and me), rumoured in-universe to be so deadly they can 'only be killed from behind'. Good luck with that, cartel lads. It’s a setup clearly gunning for that John Wick meets Sicario energy, though with a bit of Expendables thrown in for those who love a squad-based punch-up.
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Solid Cast, Fast Run-Time
Chava Cartas directs this one — he’s done guns, grit and cartel wars before (he helmed Rosario Tijeras), so he knows when to roll the camera for maximum chaos. He’s working with a cast that’s heavy on homegrown muscle: Luis Alberti (Workforce), Leonardo Alonso (New Order), Luis Curiel (Control Z), Guillermo Nava (I’m Not Afraid), and David Calderón León (C.I.A.), all playing the sort of professionals you’d rather have on your side in a bar brawl. They go through the cartel like a hot knife through butter across a tight 85 minutes — not a wasted scene in sight, which frankly is how all action films should be.
Blowing Up the Netflix Top 10
This is where it gets a bit astonishing — Counterattack didn’t exactly light up the critics (not enough reviews for a Rotten Tomatoes score), but audiences worldwide set it off like a firework. On release, it racked up 18.6 million completed views in just three days. Zoom out, and it’s now sitting at #8 on Netflix's All-Time Most Watched Non-English Films with 66.9 million views and 94.8 million hours watched. That puts it in league with heavyweights like Troll, Under Paris, and Society of the Snow. Here’s the sort of company it’s keeping on the all-time leaderboard:
- Troll – 103 million views
- Under Paris – 102.3 million
- Society of the Snow – 98.5 million
- Exterritorial – 91.7 million
- The Great Flood – 86.6 million
- Nowhere – 85.7 million
- The Platform – 82.8 million
- Counterattack – 66.9 million
- Ad Vitam – 63.1 million
- Brick – 61.8 million
The critics, what little there were, seemed genuinely surprised — one was even moved to say the director managed "so many creative moments" in those 85 minutes it made other bloated action 'epics' look daft. Meanwhile, punters are lobbing words like 'excellent', 'engaging', and even 'must watch' at it, netting Counterattack a healthy 67% on the so-called Popcornmeter. Not bad for a film that, until recently, barely registered outside Latin America and action junkie circles.