John Cena & Jackie Chan Action Movie With 24% On Rotten Tomatoes Has One Very Impressive Netflix Record

Summary Hidden Strike ranked 6th on Netflix's list of most viewed movies in 2023, with over 73 million views and 126 million hours watched.

Critics panned Hidden Strike with a 24% Rotten Tomatoes score, but it received a 55% audience score, proving more popular with viewers.

Despite negative reviews, the Chan and Cena combo drew in massive viewership, indicating potential for a sequel or even a theatrical release.

The John Cena and Jackie Chan action movie Hidden Strike ended up being one of the biggest streaming movies of 2023. Directed by Scott Waugh (The Expendables 4, Act of Valor, Need for Speed) and written by Arash Amel (Rise, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare), Hidden Strike pairs the unlikely duo of Chan and Cena in an action-packed martial arts adventure film. Chan and Cena play two ex-special forces soldiers who are tasked with escorting a group of civilians along the "Highway of Death" in Baghdad, marking their first-ever onscreen appearance in either film or television.

Hidden Strike initially premiered on July 6, 2023, in the United Arab Emirates before releasing internationally on Netflix on July 28. It was not available to see in theaters in the United States, resulting in a less than $1 million worldwide box office total against an estimated budget of $80 million. Because it was essentially a straight-to-streaming movie with a limited theatrical run, the box office numbers, unfortunately, do not indicate much about the film's overall success and impact on audiences. That's where Netflix's recently released "What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report" factors in.

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Jackie Chan & John Cena's Hidden Strike Was One Of Netflix's Most Popular Movies Of 2023

It placed highly on the list of Netflix's most popular movies

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Based on the "What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report" that collected all streaming data on the platform between July and December 2023, Hidden Strike was the sixth most viewed movie on Netflix during that time period. Hidden Strike earned a total of 73.3 million views during the six-month timespan and accrued nearly 126 million hours watched. In terms of the July-December Netflix list, Hidden Strike is the highest-placing movie that's not available globally and is not a true Netflix original. Leave the World Behind was the most viewed movie on the entire platform between the months of June and December 2023.

Leave the World Behind generated a total of 121 million views and 286.3 million hours watched. What's most astonishing is that the data in the report is limited to a range from June 1 to December 31, so Leave the World Behind only had three weeks to become the most-watched film on Netflix during that time. The Gal Gadot-led action spy thriller Heart of Stone came in second, generating 109.6 million views and 228.4 million hours. Leo (96 million views, 171.2 million hours viewed), Nowhere (86.2 million views, 156.6 million hours viewed), and The Out-Laws (83.8 million views, 135.5 million hours viewed) rounded out the top 5 most viewed movies during that time period.

Related Where Was Hidden Strike Filmed? All Filming Locations Explained Starring action giants John Cena and Jackie Chan, Hidden Strike was filmed back in 2018 in various locations, and is now streaming on Netflix.

Why Hidden Strike's Reviews Were So Negative

Some critics felt the film wasted its two mega-stars

Despite Hidden Strike's massive popularity and streaming performance, the film only earned an unimpressive score of 24% on Rotten Tomatoes. There was notably not a wide batch of reviews for the film, with very few RT Top Critics weighing in. By contrast, the film earned a 55% in terms of audience score, demonstrating that it was more favorable among causal viewers than critics. Ian Freer of Empire Magazine categorized Hidden Strike as, "a meandering, unfunny, mostly flat effort" and "a disappointing waste of two immensely likable stars."

Chase Hutchinson of Collider wrote in his D-graded review of Hidden Strike, "Even when it tosses everything it can at the screen, it all comes crashing down once more. The only question you have left is if a flop of a movie is dumped on streaming and no one is around to see it, does it still land with a thud?" While it truly feels like Hidden Strike was forgotten nearly as soon as it arrived, the film ended up taking the sixth spot in total views on Netflix during the latter half of 2023. Netflix's data reveals that Hidden Strike was much more of a streaming success than it was in critics' circles.

Why Hidden Strike Was So Popular On Netflix Despite Bad Reviews

Cena and Chan are a winning combo

Hidden Strike was delayed for 5 years before it was finally released in 2023. The film achieved 37.8 million hours watched and 22 million views in its first week alone, which is essentially the equivalent of having an opening weekend at the box office that exceeds expectations. It's no surprise that the combination of Cena and Chan drew in a massive audience for Netflix, although there is no official word about the development of Hidden Strike 2. Taking only its streaming numbers into account, Hidden Strike is likely to get a sequel if it keeps its winning duo of Chan and Cena, and could even get a theatrical release.