My weekly movie reviews. You can also read these on letterboxd.
This week focuses on Netflix’s new release, COUNTERATTACK.
COUNTERATTACK (2025)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
There’s nothing particularly original about Netflix’s new action release COUNTERATTACK (confusingly also titled COUNTERSTRIKE). It’s a simple shoot ’em up with a team of Mexican soldiers hunted by cartel killers after their captain foils their plans to kill two women.
The big difference between this and most American action movies is a stronger emphasis on character and that makes this Mexican thriller worth watching. From the ensemble of Special Forces commandos who we get to know gradually between fight scenes to the bad guys who have their own complex relationships, COUNTERATTACK actually takes its time to give both the heroes and villains human moments. You wouldn’t see a scene like the one where the leader of the cartel scolds his dead brother for making bad decisions, crying and cursing him at the same time, in an American movie. It’s sad to say but foreign filmmakers are more in touch with the kind of character-driven genre storytelling we used to love in the 80s and 90s.
I didn’t find most of COUNTERATTACK’s action sequences to be impressive until the last act when the soldiers hold up in a building and protect two more women they’ve come across on their journey. The final raid is well-executed and the filmmakers are wise to kill off some characters we care about. Unfortunately, they spoil it with a dumb hand-to-hand fight scene between the lead and the cartel boss, like something straight out of a Chuck Norris movie but otherwise this is a better-than-average action movie.
Watched on Netflix.
