The title of the C-drama couldn’t be more apt and a big kudos to the production and cast of modern police and crime thriller The Knockout for being the first hit of 2023. I don’t think international viewers of C-dramas have paid attention or noticed this drama but since its premiere two weeks ago on January 14th it’s been THE talk of the town. It got a nice boost with lunar new year on top of great reviews and burgeoning word of mouth. The drama currently has 9.1 on Douban and streaming platform iQiyi even mentioned it during its earning call this week for why the platform is doing so well to start off the year. The preview reminds me of a cross between Infernal Affairs, Black and White, Cruel City, and Beyond Evil but without the serial killer. Not sure I’m in the mood for this but it’s definitely worth a post to discuss the runaway success of this drama without the usual pretty face trendy names from C-ent.
Preview for The Knockout:
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I am watching it. I almost finished with Find Myself and I will dedicate more time to binging the knockout.
Douban ratings are iffy at times. 三体 / 3 Body is scoring well but the show is a snooze.
狂飙 / The Knockout is solid, feels like a throwback to the crime and corruption cdramas of the 2000s. The entire cast is stacked with veterans, but the biggest selling point of the show is 张颂文's performance. His acting is absolutely, positively, mind-blowingly stupendous.
The only thing with Three-Body is the pacing of the episodes. But personally I feel that the story itself is incredibly great and different from other sci-fi stories out there. I bet this drama will be much easier to watch after all the episodes have been released and people can finish watching it in 2-3 days.
Absolutely one of the best series I have ever seen,in any language,great acting,great script
Perfect
And all the good talk turned into a giant wtf with the last episodes where the collective conclusion on Douban was wtf are you smoking mr. Screenwriter. Typical c-drama messiness.
Apparently, the drama got re-dubbed due to you know.. restrictions and censored stuff etc. Sigh. Probably got re-edited as well.
Douban is a joke, sorry. There's been accusations of manipulations such as removing legitimate low ratings, also not removing mass down rating by antis. If they delay the release of rating, it means they're cooking something. I swear cent is full of manipulationqs for gain. Such a dirty, dirty world.
Cent is a dumpster on fire but this drama is a hit and the TV ratings which aren't manipulated are going through the roof. They almost hit 4%
Meh, Douban ratings are no longer trustable now. The dramas of popular actors and actresses without powerful connections get undeservingly low ratings while mediocre dramas from those with powerful connections get high ratings.
I just stick by my instincts and watch a drama's trailers and first couple of episodes before deciding whether I will watch it or not.
I haven't caught up to the latest episode for The Knockout yet, it's good so far. Anti-crime dramas that get broadcasted on CCTV1 & CCTV8 tend to get very good TV ratings, Crime Crackdown from last year also did well, though The Knockout definitely did miles better.
Acting is good in this drama. Story & editing is a bit messy.