Bite Review: BoyNextDoor Reclaim Their Signature Humor in “Hollywood Action”

Straight from debut, BoyNextDoor burst onto the scene like a breath of boisterous fresh air. In the two years since, they’ve proven to be one of the most reliable groups in K-pop’s fifth generation, both in terms of quality and conceptual consistency. When BoyNextDoor come back, you know what you’re getting: something energetic, witty, and insanely catchy.

With that being said, their earlier 2025 comebacks were solid, but missing a certain spark I couldn’t quite put my finger on…until the spark returned with a delightful vengeance in “Hollywood Action.”

Sometimes, you don’t know what you’re missing until it waves hello and announces its return. “If I Say I Love You” and “I Feel Good” may have continued BoyNextDoor’s trend of releasing charming earworms presented with witty visual touches, but “Hollywood Action” takes the group back to its roots: straight-up slapstick humor.

Dancing, lighter than air, through a variety of film sets, BoyNextDoor are in full spoof mode in “Hollywood Action.” Snappy editing propels the (at just over two-and-a-half minutes, already short) MV forward like a rocket. On the way, friendly aliens, enthusiastic crew members, and an over-zealous leading man fill out the cast of misfits, led, of course, by BoyNextDoor themselves. Visual gags abound and repeat watches reward viewers with countless silly little details to giggle over. In short, “Hollywood Action” is unabashedly unserious, and all the more brilliant for it.

BoyNextDoor’s humor is critical to their success not only because they are so good at it, but because it’s truly what sets them apart in a K-pop scene packed with talented groups. The wit they held onto in their earlier 2025 releases was still distinctive, but it was not exclusive to BoyNextDoor: Plenty of groups embrace clever visual patterns and off-kilter camerawork. On the other hand, truly slapstick MVs are currently few and far between (rookie group Close Your Eyes were the exception to the rule with July’s “Snowy Summer”).

BoyNextDoor aren’t just great performers, they’re great comedians, and it’s this pairing that could launch them into the K-pop stratosphere. It’s great to see them embracing that again in “Hollywood Action.”  

As a song, “Hollywood Action” is less of an unambiguous slam dunk. The lyrics, while fun, aren’t anything to write home about. Meanwhile, the track’s musicality is an interesting beast. A blaring chorus sits side by side with some surprisingly mellow verses and an instrumental outro that is downright jarring in the MV (but, oddly, totally smooth when listening to the song without accompanying visuals). The experimentation is admirable, but not entirely successful.

Ultimately, though, that’s pretty much quibbling. As a comeback, “Hollywood Action” is a welcome return to signature form for BoyNextDoor, and that’s an accomplishment that overshadows any small imperfections.  BoyNextDoor are back to making laugh-out-loud MVs. A little piece of the world has righted itself.

(YouTube. Images via KOZ, HYBE.)