The Heart Killers: Uncut

Campy rom-com & deeply flawed storytelling: frustrating writing issues despite loving the cast

Watching this series is like driving on a bumpy road : there are so many elements I disliked for a good chunk of the drama but at the same time, I cannot deny the fact that it remained all along quite entertaining. I must also admit that I have mixed feelings because the overall series never really matched my expectations : I wanted a dark and gritty thriller when I should have settled for a campy rom-com with clunky action scenes. There were also a lot of writing issues that frustrated me : even actors with amazing chemistry could not salvage completely the messy plot.

Against all odds, it was almost impossible for me to root for the romance of one of my fave duo of actors in Thai BL drama (First and Khaotung). I strongly disliked the character of Kant (played by First) and found his growth arc really unrealistic, preventing me to adhere to the romance for most of the series. I'm fully blaming the script and not the actors because First and Khaotung chemistry was very good and their acting was on point. Especially Khaotung who played Bison: he had some incredible emotional scenes that once again impressed me so much ! He is definitely an acting force the world need to recognize even more !

Next to this iconic pair of actors, the drama gave me the opportunity to discover a new duo : Joong and Dunk . My opinion on their acting and their romance (as Fadel and Style) is quite the opposite as the one mentioned above. I supported so much more their love story : it was very compelling and made sense. It was my first time watching those two and I will be looking forward to their next series despite the imbalance in acting skills. Indeed, if Joong fully convinced me, I still have reserve regarding Dunk acting which felt a bit too green. He played my fave character of the series (Style) but he was sometimes so unconvincing that it felt parodic to me (in particular in the most dramatic scenes). However, I felt he had improved by the end of the show.

Surprisingly enough, despite my expectations having been tampered quite a lot by the deeply flawed storytelling, I enjoyed the ending. Indeed, I expected to keep disliking one of the main relationship until the end but in some way the script managed to get me onboard at the last minute. It still feels like "too little too late" because it is pretty dumb to have one of the central romance only make sense at the end while it remained totally unconvincing for almost the full duration of the show.

Regarding the production value, there are also some high and lows. Despite me wishing for a darker and grittier story, I loved the colorful set, the costumes and the campy vibe. It felt very stylish and purposeful. I also found the sexy moments and the intimate scenes very well done for most part. I quite enjoyed the OST (especially the opening song by Khaotung) and the opening/ending generic design. It felt camp and over-the-top but in the best way. However, the actions scenes were ridiculous and the editing was maladroit and all over-the-place. The music layout on the scenes was also done in a too awkward and abrupt manner.

I would recommend the series mainly for the cast. Despite all the flaws I point out, the biggest being the writing, I still feel it is an entertaining watch. It frustrated me a lot at some point but ended on a right note. It is a bit of a shame that one of the romance felt totally unconvincing for most part of the series despite being played by very good actors with amazing chemistry. I want to scream at the writers/director/editors for that! If you watch it with the right expectations (as a campy light rom-com rather than as a dark story featuring carefully crafted characters), you will enjoy it more for sure.

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minus some point for dunk's acting

HeartKillers was really well done. Khaotung and Joong both expertly delivered on their assassin roles. The chemistry between First and Khao was just *chefs kiss* and they both never fail to make me cry. Concerning JoongDunk, it felt as though Joong performed for the both of them, his acting made up for Dunk's. While his character was enjoyable and served as comedic relief, it was evident that Dunk struggled with line delivery. His effort was still noticeable and though there were times where I had to pause and sit in silence for a while, I really admire and appreciate him and his character.

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Um Amor Bandido BL

Em resumo, The Heart Killers vendeu o que ele propôs, uma série de amor bandido divertida, empolgante, deliciosa, provocadora e com uma abordagem única. Tivemos momentos que se perderam ou sem sentido, mas não seria um BL Tailandês se isso não acontecesse. FirstKhao como sempre dando aula de atuação, vestindo as skins de seus personagens com excelência, com beijos inesquecíveis e momentos de pura emoção. Como sempre eles carregando a responsabilidade da maior parte do BL nas costas e entregando tudo e mais um pouco para a gente. JoongDunk, para o primeiro BL que assisti deles foram razoáveis, não vou mentir que esperava mais principalmente do Joong. Tiveram momentos que eles se destacaram sim, mas não conseguiram manter por muito tempo. Graças ao quesito atuação e entrega dos dois, principalmente do Dunk. E não preciso dizer nada dos beijos do Dunk não é mesmo? Minha nota vai ser um 7 a 7,5 porque apesar de ser uma série interessante, inovadora, esteticamente arrojada, cheia de referências e entreter, deixou a desejar em muitos quesitos. A ideia foi maravilhosa, mas a execução falhou na maioria das vezes. Digo isso com um pouco de pesar no coração porque estava com minhas expectativas bem altas sobre essa série, até por ser uma obra de Jojo e Aof, achava que ela iria entrar facilmente no meu ranking de melhores BLs. O que não vai acontecer infelizmente.

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50/50

La música es lo mejor de la serie. 10/10 sin duda.
La historia es interesante, y las actuaciones no están mal; en lo personal, disfruté mucho el trabajo de casi todos los protagonistas. Las escenas dramáticas fueron, en su mayoría, muy buenas (pero las que no, fueron horribles).

Sin embargo, el guión dejó mucho que desear. Hay demasiadas escenas de relleno descarado o simple fanservice, mientras que momentos clave para la trama fueron tratados de forma superficial o apresurada.
Los errores de continuidad fueron imposibles de ignorar. Normalmente no presto tanta atención a esos detalles porque me enfoco en disfrutar la historia, pero esta vez eran demasiados y muy evidentes. Para colmo, el audio en varias escenas fue simplemente horrible.

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Vale mucho la pena

AME DEMASIADO. Es SUPER enganchante, intensa, entretenida, romántica, hot, tierna, dramática... Lo tiene todo literalmente. Es muy disfrutable, no escatimaron en escenas que hacen que uno se enamore de las parejas, pero tampoco faltó el drama que le dio ese toque realista que le vino tan bien. El romance va surgiendo entre la acción de forma conflictiva e intensa, y el principal problema pasa por como ellos no pueden resistirse a ese amor. Todos los personajes fueron fieles a sus personalidades y hubo un desarrollo de personaje coherente. No fue demasiado realista y si, hubo una pequeña romantizacion a la delincuencia, pero todo con fines de entretenimiento para que la serie no se vuelva un drama aburrido. Comparte ciertas vives con Kinnporshe ✨ en el sentido de que tiene acción, intensidad, y las parejas no vendrían siendo un ejemplo a seguir, pero aún así es de las mejores y más completas series de romance y acción que verán

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