Cães de Caça (2023)

Great bromance, gripping, high-intensity action, but brutally violent

Bloodhounds is an effortless binge despite the relentless violence and absolutely ferocious fights (of which there are many). With breathtaking build-ups, ridiculous, tension-filled cliffhangers, superb pacing, and tightly choreographed fight scenes and brawls (does it matter that they’re probably also unrealistic?), getting sucked into this drama and leaving some logic at the door is easy.

Bloodhounds is a fairly straightforward story set during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, near the end of 2020 into 2021. Vulnerable families and small businesses in Seoul are struggling financially and turning to predatory loan sharks in desperation. The drama is a classic David and Goliath-type tale about two very talented boxing nobodies seeking justice and revenge as they attempt to bring down the most powerful, vicious, and ruthless of loan sharks.

The series likely won't leave you in a show-hole, but you'll be on the edge of your seat the entire time, heart thumping madly, and rooting for Gun-woo, Woo-jin, and the rest of the team. Chase scenes, for example, often bore me, but the ones in Bloodhounds were among the most thrilling, adrenaline-filled, suspenseful aspects of the series.

Woo Do-hwan continues to demonstrate his acting versatiity. His characters in The King: Eternal Monarch and Joseon Attorney: A Morality really showcased his dramatic range; here, Gun-woo is much more low-key, requiring a more nuanced and subtle portrayal, like the one Woo gave in Save Me. The greatest highlight of the drama, however, is the close friendship between Gun-woo and Woo-jin. One-time rivals in the ring, their contrasting personalities complement each other perfectly and their chemistry is immediate.

The drama is obviously not without its weak spots. The story is not especially complex or deep, and the characters, while compelling, could be more richly developed, especially some of the side characters — I wanted to know more about Mr. Choi, the Knifers, and Mr. Oh. I also wanted to know more about Woo-jin. The unfortunate consequences of Kim Sae Ron's DUI, can be felt towards the end of the series as well. And I wanted just a little more from the ending too. Despite its deficits, Bloodhounds is a solid watch from start to finish -- if you don’t over think the details and can stomach the brutal violence.

Leia Mais

Writing takes a nosedive after episode 6

Wow. Kim Sae Ron's DUI truly destroyed the momentum the show had built up and they did NOT stick the landing. What started off as simple, yet focused, story meandered into a laughable mess. Bringing in Siwon to serve a major role in the climax was a huge mistake. His presence earlier on the story did not warrant the role he played later on. And the other female character? The definition of deus ex machina. The production should have just bit the bullet and kept Kim Sae Ron for the last two episodes. Her role was just too significant to have been written out in that manner, and it didn't align with her character's values to fuck off to the Rome.

The cast and action sequences are really what made the drama stand out. The writing was, initially, much better than your usual K-Drama fare and didn't rely on any of the tired tropes we see in crime-thriller K-Dramas. It felt more cinematic in its nature. But the characters behaved so stupid, at times, that it just felt silly. Hyeon-ju, Gun-woo, and Woo-jin making bad decisions wasn't nearly as bad as seeing President Choi and his knifers make such obvious blunders. Those two knifers had death flags the minute they appeared on screen, but I wish their deaths hadn't been so stupid. You're a VETERAN in the business yet you're not covering your tracks when going against a HUGE gang? Dumb. The ending just emphasised everything that was wrong with the writing prior to the concluding episodes.

Should have been a BL btw. Gay subtext was crazy lol.

Leia Mais

Action packed hit

Watched this primarily for Woo Do Hwan since its announcement but the delay of release now made sense because of Kim Saeron's scandal in 2022. Before getting into the short review, honestly have to say I hope she can make a comeback because her role in this showed immense growth since seeing her in High School Love On. Controversial opinion, but there you have it.

The drama is far more violent, explicit, bloody and gruesome than anticipated going in, that I felt it should've been rated R. Viewer discretion is advised. Regardless I enjoyed it immensely. Great action sequences, insanely epic fight scenes that got me on edge and fearful at the same time. I loved the minute details regarding the fight from Ep1 in comparison to the one in Ep8, where the dynamics have changed between villain and protagonist.

Woo do Hwan delivered in his excellent performance yet again as Gun Woo and immediately earns sympathy from the viewer. His chemistry with Lee Sang Yi leaps off the screen. I haven't seen a bromance in a while and honestly, it gets better with every episode. Park Sung Woong who played Myunggil was really, really superb and have your blood boil from his actions.

From the scandal, the director had to make the call to rewrite scenes whilst they were in midst of filming, and it's very evident what's been done to accommodate KSR's reduction of screen time. It makes me wonder what the drama was supposed to have been if this scandal never happened because her character was significant very early on in the episodes, and her relation to the main characters was one of the highlights of this drama before it literally fell apart.

I have a strong sense that the archer was never supposed to be there, and it was always meant to be the three of them - Gun Woo, Woojin, and Hyunjoo - since their bond was sealed in the first half of the drama. Despite the great teamwork with the archer, it felt forced that this new character essentially replaced Hyunjoo. After the tragedy in Ep6, it was used a leverage to cut down KSR's scenes by making her "leave" to Rome. There was absolutely no logic to this and she should've been hell bent for revenge (far more, in fact) than Gun Woo and Woojin (whose emotions were reasonable and consistent) and stayed with them for Ep7-8 for the epic and cathartic finale.

Honestly because of the unspoken changes, the effect of last few episodes somewhat dampened the drama as a result and felt very abrupt. They did their best, but Bloodhounds definitely could have been much better especially from episode 6-8. It's not terrible exactly, but you have a sense of what might have been planned beforehand. I don't see the possibility f a S2, nor there is a need of it. Worth watching if you like action dramas, but it had great potential.

Leia Mais

good start, good visuals, mediocre plot, unrealistic fight scenes

-this one started out promising. I was impressed by the boxing scenes in the first episode which were (both, the training scenens and the actual tournament scenes) rather realistic and well done. I was hoping the drama would stick to the idea of keeping the fight scenes realistic to some degree. Sadly that was not the case. The further the drama progressed, the worse the rather elongated fight scenes got.
Let me put it like this: yes, a real boxer can take a certain amount of rather strong blows to the head and take it. But also this is limited. Someone who is particularly not a professional boxer, like the main villain Kim Myeong-Gil for example? It is rather ridiculous that he gets full force blows to the head coming from a professional boxer about 20 times in a row, and he just gets up and hits back and even runs away. Plus the villain is in his 50s. Someone not used to these blows and that age? Gets one, maybe two strong blows and is knocked out cold - or actually dead.

- similar unrealistic scenes sadly with one of the main characters - Hong Woo-Jin. In the really brutal attack he suffers in the middle of the drama? He is beaten, he has a severe heavily bleeding wound (or several) in his abdomen, stomach etc. , he is left there in a burning building with heavy smoke he inhaled given he was still breathing. He would have been dead there. He gets to a hospital nonetheless, again is bleeding so heavily no one could survive it, - and survives. And even more unrealistic is that someone who had suffered these severe, extremely damaging injuries, can get as flexible, fit and strong again as shown later. Even if, by a total miracle, he would have survived these catastrophic injuries he would not have been able to stand multiple super strong opponents fights like shown afterwards. In fact, if he really had survived he could have been happy if he after a longer while would have been able to walk straight, to go to the loo normaly, to use the parts of his body (muslces, tendons etc.) that were actually crashed and destroyed to a decent degree. Never would he have been able to train like a bodybuilding maniac with full power and flexibility.
(and to add that too: none of both main characters would have any teeth left, neither their small, straight beautiful noses. Their faces would have visible and lasting heavy damage, Woo Do-hwan's character already after the extreme face headbutt he receieved from that troll guy in the beginning. If happened as shown, all teeth would be broken out, nose would be broken)

- the plot started out ok, showing the mean business of loan sharks and how they terrorize people which actually really happens in South Korea. It later got a bit confusing as to why certain things happen or don't happen, which was gilded with even more rather violent action scenens and fights. I have to mentione 'my name' once again, which had heavy fight scenes as well, but they were comparably brilliant, stayed at least realistic to some degree most of the time and didn't need to be so excessive to overshadow weaknesses in the plot as there, the plot was strong and intelligent.

-Woo Do-hwans character Kim Gun-Woo...oh well, someone who has witnessed the sheer evil of what happened to his mother, then to the granddad and his then best friend? Someone like that is not still like a naive puppy most of the time, it doesn't really make sense to me. f you have seen such things, survived them and decided to take up the fight against highest organised crime,you simply can't be like a 5-year-old good boy most of the time, it wouldn't work.

- I personally didn't feel any real chemistry between the characters, especially the girl, Kim Hyeon-Ju, seemed strangely artificial and 'created' to me.

I was waiting for this drama eagerly as I really liked Woo Do-Hwan in 'the king, eternal monarch'. In 'bloodhounds' now he got an impressive body for the drama, and it's obvious he had real boxing training. Sadly I didn't feel his character was real, due to the rather mediocre plot, and rather artificial connection between all the characters.

-I also thought it was just too much violence at some points hiding the weak plot, - all in all, it couldn't convince me, I didn't like the whole 'mood' in the drama and wouldn't feel like watching it again.

Leia Mais

finished it in one sitting…

woo do hwan pulled a woo do hwan card again! he came back with a completely different look this time. a big boy with soft eyes. i swear most of the time he was on screen he took my breath away. that being said, i reAaaally liked lee sang yi, first time i saw him was on hometown cha cha cha, i will definitely keep an eye on his next projects after this outstanding perfomance.

about the story and the relationships… fucking lived for the bromance and found family plot, its like the writers knew what i expected from this project and they just served it to me on a golden plate. this did not need romance and im sooooo glad they did not include one just for the sake of it.

im waiting for a s2 just so i can see more of our facorite marine duo… but if we dont get a s2 im still really satified with how this season ended. great job !

Leia Mais

Very promising at first

As I'm reading other reviews, I'm realizing we all kind of had the same off moments.

I don't want to repeat what has already been said but this drama truly had some great potential at first.
The bromance is very nice, the highlight of the show. WDH showed everyone some heart in all he did which was very inspiring, yet unrealistic at some point. The fighting scenes were very impressive even though I can't tell how normal it can be: 2-3 men taking on 30 men. Also episode 4, the car chase was literally so good. That truly got me shivering. Let's not forget the effects creating the wounded bodies, the blood and everything else. Such a good job!

Indeed there were many plot holes. So they were fighting this really bad guy but they also did not add to their security or safety after having attacked the bad guy. Instead they just went back to their normal day and routines and that was really off.
The first 6 episodes built the whole history while the last two were just a bad speeded wrap up. Some things felt forced just to end the show. Tbh I thought there was gonna be a 2nd season, considering how good they were trying to built the story at first.
They had the chance to bring Kim Hyeon Joo back for the final attack, but instead they added Oh Da Min to the fighting team. The moment she heard about her grandpa being kidnapped, there wasn't a single emotion expressed through her face.

To sum this up, this drama made me experience some very strong emotions; it had the power to captivate me and make me binge watch 6 episodes in just a day. It's a solid 8 I would say. You can totally give it a go. You'll get some good visuals of Kim Geon Woo :p

Leia Mais

An exciting and moving experience to watch

I really liked this show! It was so very emotional and sometimes difficult to watch becuase of all that happens... but it was really well done and full of heart.

The two main characters are pure, hard-working, strong-willed, and human in every way. The casting was just perfect. The bad guys are really scary and intimidating while the good guys are heroic, have surpassed loss and challenges, and can stand up for people who aren't able to do it themselves.

Although this is not the kind of genre I normally watch, I was enthralled by the casting and wanted to check it out...it was definitely worth it and I fininshed it very quickly. Shows that are deep, human, emotional, and end in triumph are some of my favorites.

I really appreciate the production quality, the cool soundtrack, and the chemistry each cast member had with each other. The reason that I may not re-watch it, at least any time soon, is because it was just really emotionally taxing, so be prepared to cry. Don't worry, it has a good ending.

Leia Mais

1% brain, 99% brawls. Watch it for the action, not the story.

I will say that if you are someone who absolutely need things to make sense for you before you can move on, you are not going to be able to enjoy this show properly. This is a true mindless action-packed drama that requires you to shut down and enjoy the show as it is. This show shoves plot holes in your face without even trying to hide it and you're not afforded too much time to ponder about it before they hit you with the next sequence of events (some people may hate this). Give this show the Jackie Chan treatment, brawl > brains.

Episode 1-6 was intense....and brutal (more about this later)
The action scenes were aplenty and very well crafted. It felt like there were real techniques involved with the boxing and also knife handling later on in the show. My interest in boxing skyrocketed while watching this show- a testament to how well done the action sequences were. Credits to the camerawork too. Bish bish bish!

The bromance between Geon Woo (Woo Do Hwan) and Woo Jin (Lee Sang Yi) was beautiful. It was the perfect marriage of suave and goof. It felt very natural and I wasn't missing the absence of the usual ML/FL romance in this one because of them. They made me want to root for them till the very end which is maybe why this is the first drama in 2023 that I binge-watched.

Kim Myung Gil (Park Sung Woong) as the main villain, as usual, doesn't disappoint. I hated him in the shortest time. Dude is just a legend at delivering the evil role. His 1v1 fight with sushi ahjussi was epic...I was screaming a little internally at the Zoro moment. Both the knifer ahjussi were amazing at their role; pity we only got to see them for so little.

The characters were all well-connected and had proper backstories and personalities. None of them felt redundant to the plot and I love the fact that they did not reduce the female characters to weak damsel in distress characters. The ladies were kicking ass along with the guys. Good blending and timing of comedic light-hearted moments throughout the series as well.

Now here is where it starts to fall off...
Episode 6 was brutal...this level of cruelty was not expected and rarely seen in dramas but movies. It was so hard for me to watch some of the scenes and I had to take time off after that to recalibrate before I could continue the show the next day. But that was not the reason why it was bad, I actually appreciate the art and intention behind it. However, it did feel like some characters didn’t have to die..The director makes you fall in love with the cast only to kill them off next in a very abrupt manner. It was to me kinda cheap tactic to stir the emotions of the viewers. **I swear if they killed off Woo Jin; it sure looked possible at one point, I would have not continued watching anymore. Thank you plot armor. I didn't get time to properly soak in the fact that some of the characters I grew to love were ALL DEAD in ONE EPISODE and episode 7 just begins after a time skip as if nothing happened. Whut.

The annihilation of the good guys and the immediate time skip did cause the pacing of the show to feel all of a sudden, jarring. The defeat of the main antagonist felt anti-climatic and pointless considering how brutal he was, how much resentment the protagonist had for him, and how much they lost in the process. The revenge certainly didn't feel sweet. The late introduction of Da Min (Jung Da Eun) was uninspiring at best tho I don't think she could have done any better personally. It just sums up the last 2 episodes of the series..uninspiring and anti-climatic. Would love to see the boys achieving some of their personal dreams mentioned at the start and what they did with the gold they received...so much potential so many questions..

I am speculating if the Hyeon Joo (Kim Sae Ron) DIU case which happened around the time of filming episode 6 caused her to leave the show being the reason behind the lackluster ending. Could this possibly have been a 10-12 episodes series? Was the ending so drastically different because of the loss of a key character at a late stage? Was the massacre done because they had to close the story? If so then I think they did a reasonable job at recovering the story.

Regardless, I did enjoy most of the series and was glad that I discovered Woo Do Hwan through this show. Dude is a star in the making. Marine Pride!

Leia Mais

STOP OVER ANALYZING AND JUST WATCH!

I am not a fun of action-related anything but I have watched a few that really changed my mindset. This one falls under that category, I saw alot of negative comments but before I even came in for the comments I went and watched it myself.

what I liked:
- The bond/ bromance between the two MLs, I have seen alot of bromance kdramas and this one did a good job at giving a normal feel of a natural friendship.
- The connections between all the characters, k-dramas or just all dramas have always had a way of connecting characters to make the story make sense. This did a good job, they connected each character well and gave a brief background of who they where.
- The fight scenes! Omg, the fight scenes were beautiful. It takes time and alot of effort to get that done, each movement was precise and I just saw perfection in the fights.
- The fact they didn't bring back characters from the dead...this happens alot in action movies..where you think a character has died and they are surprisingly not dead. I am glad they completely killed off characters and just used them as the MLs motivation to get rid of the villian.
-The concept of COVID was also nice, it made the situation of people taking out loans from loan sharks more logical.

what I didn't like:
- Honestly, some things didn't make sense. And instead of me completely bashing them for those errors..I will just say.. 'when tailing a car'...this was the most frustrating thing to watch
-Then after episode 6, it's like they were trying to rush everything so that it could end. They did there best to make sense of how the story should end but the ending was a bit rushed and even though the final battle I was looking forward to was quite bland.. I will just I am okay with the ending...somehow.

So to conclude on this, I will just say the show is worth giving a try but you need to not try and over analyze everything. if you stick with the show for the bromance and fights, then you will enjoy it. So just watch it! And don't over analyze.

Leia Mais

it's really worth watching

it's a bit hard to find action movies that are worth it....it's really worth watching it, it's worth wasting your time to watch it as an action, it's superb at the beginning it was a bit boring but it's getting more and more interesting
I really liked that there is also talk about true friendship with the two sacrificing their lives for each other, gorgeous, a little sad, but I really love it

Honestly, I've watched a lot of action series movies, but this is really something to tell us how much action is in this kdrama, I honestly would really like to forget that I watched it and watch it again because it's something great

Leia Mais

"Bloodhounds": Unleashing a Fury of Friendship, Fists, and Feel-Good Thrills!

The chemistry between Woo Do-hwan and Lee Sang-yi? Holy smokes! These two as Gun-woo and Woo-jin are like fire and ice, totally different but absolutely explosive when they come together. The way their friendship develops throughout the series is just chef's kiss perfection. Whether they're throwing punches side by side or just chilling and bantering, you can feel the trust and bromance oozing through the screen.

And let's not even get started on the fight sequences – but wait, actually, let's DO get started on them because OH. MY. GOD. They were absolutely fire!!! Every single fight scene was like a beautifully choreographed dance of destruction. The raw intensity, the bone-crunching sound effects, the fluid camera work


But here's the thing that really got me – amidst all the chaos and action, the show manages to weave in these incredibly tender moments. Watching the friendship between our main guys grow feels like discovering a heartwarming oasis in the middle of a desert storm. It's these moments that give the show its soul and had me invested in every single character's journey.

But here's the thing that really got me – amidst all the chaos and action, the show manages to weave in these incredibly tender moments. Watching the friendship between our main guys grow feels like discovering a heartwarming oasis in the middle of a desert storm. It's these moments that give the show its soul and had me invested in every single character's journey.

Leia Mais

Hooked from the first episode

I'm not one for particularly violent stories. (Honestly, I had to watch some of the recaps ahead of time so I wouldn't be too scared). But this one had me hooked. Woo DoHwan and Lee Sang-Yi are fantastic together. They have the best bromance and they look the part of professional boxers. Serious eye candy, serious laughter, mixed in with a lot of serious parts. There was a little bit of everything except for the usual romance I look for. But that's OK. The action more than makes up for it; everything was choreographed amazingly. You really got sucked in from the first episode to the last.

And yes, I have to admit; I watched the beginning of the finale episode many times.

Leia Mais