Canine treat

TV review: Mad Dogs

MANILA, Philippines – In the growing video-on-demand industry, the smart players know that the key to success is forged from exclusive quality content. The biggest in Asia, HOOQ knows this only too well, and Singtel continuously takes great strides via acquisitions and partnerships with the likes of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros. to make HOOQ not only the first, but also the premier Asian provider. With the Philippines, Thailand and India as markets, HOOQ can boast of a population footprint of over 1.4 billion people. The latest series that HOOQ offers exclusively — and with a same-day telecast as the US — is the much-anticipated black comedy/suspense show, Mad Dogs.

A remake of a critically-acclaimed 2011 British TV series, Mad Dogs is an extremely watchable series that promises murder, suspense, lies, deception and dark secrets, against a backdrop of friendship, male-bonding and camaraderie. Set in the Central American paradise of Belize, the series basically follows a reunion between old friends that turns into something altogether more sinister and dangerous that we could imagine. And to highlight the kind of commitment that HOOQ has pledged to make its content truly unique and desirable, the production values, the cast and the storyline all point to HOOQ having a certified “winner” with Mad Dogs.

In Mad Dogs, four friends fly down to Belize to celebrate the retirement of their buddy, Milo. In possession of a grand beachfront villa, Milo brings the old gang together on the pretext of rekindling old friendships, and as we quickly discover, to bury hatchets and petty disagreements that had marred their relationships.

Steve Zahn, Michael Imperioli, Romany Malco and Englishman Ben Chaplin play the four “tourists,” while old favorite Billy Zane is Milo. The first episode is a mind-blowing pleasure. Things rapidly spiral into a web of lies, deception and ultimately, murder! The tropical paradise soon turns into open season on our Mad Dogs, and to make the irony even more potent, we have the appearance of a villainous “cat.” Do watch the spine-tingling last quarter of the pilot episode to catch the ominous feline appearance and understand what I allude to.

While the pilot starts off like some darker version of Hangover 2, the show has much more sinister designs — and the hijinks of the band of 40-something men soon descend into Tarantino territory. Visceral to the max, shot in glorious 4D and taking advantage of the lush locations, Mad Dogs fully deserves our attention.

Created for the digital platform, one can even download all 10 episodes of Mad Dogs instead of waiting for each week to come around. There is a 30-day free trial one can avail of to enjoy HOOQ and Mad Dogs. The subsequent subscription fee can be paid monthly by credit card or charged to one’s Globe bill.