Netflix's 'Bloodhounds' mixes action with social commentary

Television

Published: 08 Jun. 2023, 14:57 Updated: 08 Jun. 2023, 16:50

Netflix's 'Bloodhounds' mixes action with social commentary

Actor Woo Do-hwan plays Geon-woo, a young boxer who struggles to hold his head high during the Covid-19 pandemic in the new Netflix series ″Bloodhounds.″ Geon-woo becomes involved in an illegal moneylenders' organization, fighting them with his best friend Woo-jin, played by Lee Sang-yi. [NETFLIX]

A story of two young men who take on an illegal money-lending organization poaching off of well-to-do people who have become desperate due to the economic turbulence of Covid-19, “Bloodhounds” is an action drama that also blends in social commentary. Starring actors Woo Do-hwan and Lee Sang-yi, alongside veteran Park Sung-woong, “Bloodhounds” packs an entertaining punch as well as allowing viewers to empathize with the characters suffering through the repercussions of the pandemic.

“’Bloodhounds’ is based on an original webtoon of the same name and portrays the woes of the Covid-19 pandemic, so I thought if we add the right amount of action to that we could tell a solid story,” said director Kim Joo-hwan during a press conference for the series at a hotel in Mapo District on Wednesday. “I wanted to give a message of good triumphing over evil, hope and justice through this story of two young men who fight passionately for these values.”

Main poster for ″Bloodhounds″ [NETFLIX]

These woes are depicted throughout the first few episodes of “Bloodhounds,” with businesses shutting down at 10 p.m., not being able to use public transport without masks and a sense of dejectedness among the general population.

Despite all this, Woo’s character Geon-woo still dreams of becoming a professional boxer even as sports tournaments and sparring events are canceled. Geon-woo gets involved in a moneylenders’ organization after his mother borrows funds from it out of desperation. Lee plays Woo-jin, Geon-woo’s friend and eventual partner in fighting the bad guys.

From left, actor Park Sung-woong, director Kim Joo-hwan, actors Woo Do-hwan and Lee Sang-yi pose for a photo at the press conference for ″Bloodhounds″ at Hotel Naru Seoul MGallery Ambassador in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

“My character Geon-woo is someone who is very pure and good, which is why I was drawn to him,” said Woo during the press conference on Wednesday. “Even during the tough times depicted in ‘Bloodhounds,’ he does not give up and searches for a way to achieve his dreams.”

Woo and Lee are known to be close off-screen as well, having appeared in an episode of the reality television program “I Live Alone” (2013-present) together. This allowed the actors to portray a deeper friendship for their fictional characters in “Bloodhounds,” according to Woo and Lee.

Actors Woo Do-hwan, left, and Lee Sang-yi play best friends, both boxers, in the new Netflix series ″Bloodhounds.″ [NETFLIX]

“I think when we just meet casually off-screen we are still like our characters,” said Lee during the press conference. “We surprise ourselves because we have such good banter in terms of the bromance that we have. This helped us while filming ‘Bloodhounds’ and setting up the commonality between our characters, who both want to do good and hold on to hope during tough times.”

While some of the plot progression in “Bloodhounds” is too reliant on the two leads' friendship, chalking up conflicts to the strong sense of loyalty between Geon-woo and Woo-jin, the actors’ performances pull off the slightly shaky scenes requiring more characterization.

“Bloodhounds” has also attracted attention even before its release as actor Kim Sae-ron, who was charged for driving under the influence in April, participated in the series. While Netflix, alongside the director and producers, promised that Kim's scenes would be cut out as much as possible during the post-production stage, her character Hyun-joo has a quite significant role in the first half of the series, and the shadow of Kim’s appearance still looms over “Bloodhounds.”

Actor Park Sung-woong plays the main villain Kim Myeong-gi in the new Netflix series ″Bloodhounds.″ [NETFLIX]

“We invested a lot of time and thought into editing out all of Kim Sae-ron’s scenes,” said director Kim Joo-hwan Wednesday. “We did our best to edit out as much of her parts as possible while not hurting the flow and narrative of the main story. So many people’s blood, sweat and tears went into making this series and we could not damage that just because of one person’s misdeeds. But we completely understand that viewers would not want to see scenes featuring Kim, so we compromised and edited them out as much as we could.”

“Bloodhounds” will be released on Netflix on Friday.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]