Vincenzo

Exited the hype bus but it was an alright ride

If you are on the algorithm for KDrama watchers on social media, you’ve probably already heard of Vincenzo and chances are you don’t really need another review telling you whether or not to watch this. You’ve already heard all the hot takes from the hype train to the “unpopular opinion but…” This drama got incredible attention during its weekly releases and for good reason. The first half of this show is nothing short of an edge-of-your-seat experience. On the other hand, viewers who don’t take well to this drama are not unjustified, and my guess is that this drama is not going to age very well. If, by some slim chance you’re actually reading this review while on the fence, then know that this show is more like The Sopranos meets Law and Order meets KDrama than some of the other comparisons I’ve seen. It’s good, but I’d question your taste if this made it into your all time favorites list.

The good: music and production
The OST of this drama is great. Every song hits hard when it needs to. KDrama OSTs are usually very long, but 67 tracks? That’s why nothing ever gets old- there was some real thought that went into having a song for every moment. Solar’s performance on Adrenaline is great- she’s got amazing control of her voice. The production was great too, but I would also say that it’s about what you’d expect for an $18 million KDrama in 2021, there’s nothing that’s novel.

The just alright: story and acting
The story progression of this drama is mostly this: a threat upon Vincenzo is made at the beginning of the episode and either by the end or halfway through the next, it is revealed that Vincenzo knew all along of what was coming and had a plan. Vincenzo always wins and the stakes get higher for the next threat. It’s not objectively a bad formula and this show does it very well at the beginning. Even though you know that Vincenzo will win, you still want to know how. Getting there is plenty rewarding at the beginning, and this show is not entirely without consequences, but by the end this formula gets tiring because it's less rewarding as time goes on, less and less character development happens, and Vincenzo fully reverts to being a cruel mafia member by the end. The world building is outrageous but not out of the ordinary for the genre. I never really fault KDramas for not being “believable” but if that’s not your thing, then you should skip this one.

The acting is just okay. Song Joong-Ki was good, but didn’t show a ton of range. The romance scenes never quite hit the way they were supposed to. Honestly the chemistry the two leads had as business partners was way more satisfying than as lovers.


The terrible: rewatch value
I think you know where this is going: the glorification of vigilante justice. There’s absolutely no sugar coating it because it’s so bad, and it just gets worse and worse. The way to beat the bad guys at first was to outsmart them, but this show gets progressively more violent as it goes on, and by episode 20 the writers are working overtime to convince you that the heinous acts being shown to you are okay because Vincenzo is doing them, he knows best so this must be the only solution.

Another crime was what was unexplored or undeveloped, like the flashbacks that Vincenzo kept getting at the beginning of his mafia days, or Vincenzo’s adoption story. This could have been such a good story. “Adopted Korean grows up in an Italian mafia as a consigliere, ends up back in South Korea and takes on the nation’s corrupt politicians and business leaders.” When I hear that, I picture a story that tells who he was in the past, how that changes throughout the series, and who he might be afterwards, but you don’t get any of that. We’re forced to believe he’s invincible and always has been because it’s what everyone in this show keeps telling you. He goes through absolutely no character development after episode 4. Vincenzo is never confronted with the consequences of his actions and he never has to because the point of the show is to constantly tell you that he is all knowing, all powerful. I feel the worst for all the other characters because by the end, they’re all worse people. They’re greedier and more needlessly violent. Honestly, I’m convinced that the studio commissioned this story and the writers bent over backwards to “just make it work” but had no direction as to how to do it.


Overall
I’d still say that this was entertaining to watch as long as you know how to suspend your disbelief and are familiar with the genre. The ratings of this are incredible across the board, and people all over are singing the praises of this drama. I really want to drive this point home though: it’s trendy, not a classic. People will talk about it all through 2021 because it ticks a lot of boxes for people, but it’s not here to stay as a “classic.” The writers were so concerned with being edgy and trendy that they forgot to be timeless.

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Could have been better, but I am in for the BGM

The first 2 episodes can hook you up, however it did not make use the mafia properly, there are mafia story moments however due to culture differences story became the same political story from a person trying to get revenge but the villain has some connections with authorities, another thing is the editing.

The only thing that saved the series is the BGM, the male lead, and the supporting role,

For the story, the writer and the director could have used this opportunity to introduce a different story,
the series is good, but it is not rewatchable I gave it an overall score of 6. It could have been better.

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I wouldn't recommend this drama to anyone

The writers of this drama didn't do the least bit of research on anything. To not waste your time, here is a list of my opinions.

CONCLUSION
- Occasional cool/funny/well made scenes.
- Good cinematography
- Meh music
- Meh dialogue
- More meh editing
- More meh characters
- Really bad writing
- No realism.



PROS.
- A handful of scenes were seriously funny, grotesquely gorgeous and surprisingly creative.

- Sometimes the music was very impactful.

- The cinematography was great.

CONS
- They wrote a drama about lawyers fighting corrupt bussiness men in Korea but there is only a total of ONE trial and nothing is done through the law. If Korea didn't have the obnoxious rule to call someone by their occupation rather than their name, I would've forgotten that this drama had lawyers in it at all.

- The writers did not do any trial research before hand so the trial scene is just a mess and a complete joke.
Characters speak however and whenever they want. Illegal evidence is accepted. Input from spectators are affecting the case, and it's not even done to make things seem corrupt, it's done to make the characters seem "Mafioso" and intelligent. Which it didn't.

- This is not a "clever" law drama.
The writers are trying to convince us that Vincenzo is a genius lawyer with a mafia related background who outsmarts his enemies but non of his plans are actually clever. He's basically just kidnapping people, torturing them for confessions and then spreading illegally acquired information to the police without ever being questioned or held accountable. No trials, no case, just plot holes and plot armour.

- The main villain is a diagnosed psychopath but has a more dramatic emotional range than myself.
Once again, the writers didn't research psychopathy so they wrote a character who is extremely emotionally driven and then called him a psychopath cause he murders people. Even though he murders people out of pleasure. (For those who don't know, psychopaths don't have the ability to feel most emotions and would never kill out of pleasure cause they can't feel it. They don't feel pleasure, attraction, enjoyment or fear of consequences, to name a few.)

- The characters are inconsistent or too consistent.
They seem intelligent at times but then they strugle with simpler problems. There is no character development. All the characters have about 1 personality trait each. Characters suddenly gain new talents to fit the plot sometimes.

- The comedy was misplaced too often.
Trying to lighten the mood or make things funny at the wrong time happened so frequently in this drama that the characters started to look dumb. Executions of important missions were looking sloppy and the characters were looking unreliable and out of character.

- Too many episode for their own good.
Giving Vincenzo 20 episodes was a mistake. The writers could barely make the series last 16 without repeating the same type of conflicts over and over again.

- Actions without consequence.
Ex: The big bad got shot in the ear. He has a tear in his ear lobe that looks like someone accidentally pulled his earring out and he didn't become deaf. Showing us once again that the writing team didn't even do research on what type of damage a bullet to the ear makes.

- Plot holes.
Lots of them. Sometimes very important details that I was curious to hear about were brushed over and never mentioned again

- Some of the editing is really bad.
Sometimes they miss the mark completely by placing events or scenes in a bad order. Like for example, revealing the big bad of the story and then having another unimportant scene take up the last 2 min of the episode before it ends. Killing the impact of the reveal and leaving a bad aftertaste.

- The music either changed multiple times during one scene or didnt match the scene at all, at times.

- Vincenzo speaking in a horrible Italian accent to prove he lived in Italy and the Big Bad constantly reminding us that he studied in America by mixing Korean and english in every episode was very cringy and got old really fast.

The ending scene of episode 19 is the dumbest thing I've seen in a long time. The beginning scene of episode 20 made me drop the drama.

If you want a similar but better drama I would recommend "Your Honour".

P.s Might continue to edit this review as I couldnt remember everything I wanted to write.

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BEST!!!

Best K-drama!!!! 10/10 I never writte any feedback more like read and watch but this is the first kdrama I need to say I am happy that I find out there is Kdrama in the world ! I am Hungarian who is watching Korean drama with a english subtitle so please watch it! its worth it! !!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️Best K-drama!!!! 10/10 I never writte any feedback more like read and watch but this is the first kdrama I need to say I am happy that I find out there is Kdrama in the world ! I am Hungarian who is watching Korean drama with a english subtitle so please watch it! its worth it! !!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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masterpiece

wow.

I started watching this show shortly after it aired, but i stopped watching because i was very busy at the time. BIG MISTAKE. I should have completed it all then because this show is definitely worth it.

The acting is on point, the music is perfect and the story couldn't be better.

The chemistry between the maincharacters and the cute moments they have are amazing. The male lead actor was the best choice, he played his villain part very good and it was very convincing. The female lead was also amazing.

My feeling througout this show were very mixed. One moment i was laughing, the next crying and then on the edge of my seat. It's multiple genres in one show, but i love it.

The story and the plot was so good. Every episode had plottwists and betrayals that you didn't expect. Plus the final two episodes were *cheffs kiss*

The only reason i gave the rewatch value a bit less is because this show was so good because of all the plottwists and how you felt when these happened. If i watch it again i know all these twists already which would make it a bit less exciting.

So to end this review, i would just like to say: WATCH IT :)

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How to ruin a good original story

Let’s start with some of the pros:
- Good original story. It certainly had a ton of potential and was a great idea for a show
- The villains, despite being cliche were well written and the actors playing them held true to their characters
- The main actor is very good looking, so that was certainly a plus for most viewers (including me!)
That’s all of the pros. Now for the reasons which made watching this show a huge mistake for me:
- The Italian. Seriously. If you have an experienced team creating a high budget drama, the least you could do was open “Italian for dummies”. That would’ve told the scriptwriter that mademoiselle is a French word and the main character’s repeated use of it on top of his already horrid pronunciation completely ruined any “Italian” vibe he could’ve had. He neither sounds nor acts as someone raised in Europe and the fact that the team is unaware of this shows how little they cared about researching another culture. If the situation was reversed and someone tried to pass off Japanese words as Korean, you bet all these viewers would be up in arms about it
- The main characters. All of them. These are some of the most poorly written characters I’ve ever seen in any drama. The female main’s over the top ridiculousness undermined her character as a smart, competent attorney. The male main (once you get over his looks) has terrible facial expressions. The supporting cast is mostly shallow and illogical
- The superhero complex in this show is out of control. Everyone, everywhere simply loves and is willing to give up their life for a magical man with extremely good fighting skills and perfectly manicured baby hands. Everyday people apparently have no issue with him murdering his way through a country which does not seem to have an actual justice system. By the end I genuinely couldn’t understand why they loved him so much
- The extremely lazy writing leaves so many plot holes it’s impossible to count them all but I’ll try. The guy they scammed as shamans runs the newspaper. In the earlier episodes, they showed a huge court case where the main couple arrived in a sports car and got tons of media attention. Does the owner never open one of his papers? Has no one seen these people on TV after they constantly posed for cameras?
That’s just one example of a circus full of low IQ characters getting away with senseless actions simply because the writer ‘said so’.
- Honourable mentions: Over the top comedy which ends up being unfunny, the ‘talented tenants’ plot line was just too convenient, the main villain’s reveal was underwhelming, the romance was forced and the mid episodes were slow/draggy where I almost gave up.
Despite all that, I watched till the end mainly for the story which could’ve been amazing without all the pointless comedic elements and moronic characters. And to remind myself to never trust a Kdrama’s rating since all these viewers are apparently 17 (at least mentally) and just wish to see a pretty oppa doing cool things in shiny clothes.

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Master Piece

This is that one drama that no one should ever hesitate to watch! The perfect amount of comedy, suspense, thrills, and chemistry between the main leads. Like hats of to the writer, the director, the actors and the crew. They worked incredibly hard and I have to say... it is what made Vincenzo a true piece of art. It takes 4 episodes to be completely in love with it and by 8, you are hooked like never before. I suggested this to over 30 friends and every one of them loved it more and more! The story is incredibly well written, the acting is on point and I already rewatched it 8 times (well ongoing 8 times as I keep rewatch with my friends the previous episodes). Once again... a Beautiful drama and a well-deserved rating.

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DEF RECOMMEND TO WATCH! THIS DRAMA IS AMAZING

When this drama was released I was always up and watching no matter what time it was. Dark-comedy might not be the ideal genre for some people but I believe that this drama will change all their minds. The romance in Vincenzo isn't too deep and cringy but at the same time it isn't way too shallow and unrealistic. Plus, can I mention that Song Joong-ki is hotter and cuter than EVER in this drama? His mafia wear and the hilarious moments when he first arrives in Korea are so classy and funny. Lots of people say that fan reviews and the ratings are all bought and people were paid to write these good reviews, but in my opinion, there really isn't a point in doing that since its good enough for people who weren't paid to do that already. I mean, look at me. Anyways, I really recommend Vincenzo as a drama to watch and I guarantee that once you start watching you won't be able to stop. All your studies and classes won't be as important as watching Vincenzo. I promise that you will absolutely fall in LOVE with this drama. Whether you have a bad impression on Song Joong-ki (that's impossible but what if?) or any of the other characters this drama will totally melt your heart and change your opinion. What are you waiting for? Go log onto your Netflix right now and start Vincenzo!

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best mafia drama ever

Honestly, i was quite surprised seeing such bad reviews of a very popular drama and that led me to throw this drama in the watch later list, until recently i saw a clip of hong ya chong impersonating choi and vincenzo's fight scene and i was like "dammmm this is so goooood" and i immediately started watching it and guess what? I m absolutely obsessed with this drama, this couple, i m obsessed with everything and literally can't get over it, i keep rewatching the scenes, the thrill, the court scenes, the badass-ness, the boldness, the power of the couple, the subtle growth of their feelings that you can just feel from the behaviour, the humor, the action, the plannings, the lightness, the fight scenes, geumga plaza and the members, the gold, inzaghi, like i m crying because i miss this drama so much, i desperately wish there was a season 2 and hate these reviews lol for making me delay watching this absolutely wonderful awesome amazing brilliant mafia drama. Maybe i m a rookie, i don't know much about what a "drama" should really contain like these experts, but i just don't care. As a fan and a person who's totally obsessed with vincenzo, i really hate these reviews. I would advise everyone to ignore these reviews and just jump in to watching the drama, maybe you will love it like me, or dislike it or be disappointed like the people here, but decide it for yourself and not blindly follow the reviews like I did. Everyone is different and has different opinions, and this is mine.

For me, this is one of the best k dramas ever, the best mafia law drama ever, and i absolutely love and adore this, and desperately wish for season 2, after watching this drama no other drama feels the same and i keep wishing to see more and more of it. LOTS OF LOVE TO VINCENZO, AND CHACENZO AND THE REST OF THE CAST ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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I am glad that I didn't dropped it

So it took me 5 days to finish the first 9 episodes and 2 days for the last 11 episodes. It was pretty good drama. At first I didn't like it. I didn't understand what was going on. So I was gonna drop it after watching 3 episodes. But somehow I didn't dropped it and kept watching. Then again when I was in the 10th episode I thought that let's not drop it just put it in hold, take a break and start watching it again after few days. But OMG. From the 10th episode the story became so much amazing and enjoyable. It kept getting better and better with every episode. As I said I finished the last 11 episodes in 2 days. The story seems so slow in the first and it keeps getting better as the show goes on. There was so good action/fighting scenes. I also laughed very much watching the show. Some scenes was so well thought. I didn't like the comedic approach from the characters to be honest. But some people might like it. So overall it is an drama that's definitely worth watching. But you need to have patience as the story is kinda boring in the first. And there was some unwanted scenes just to make the drama longer. You can skip some scenes if you don't like it. And the drama is usually longer than other dramas. Each episode is longer than 80 minutes. So yeah as I said you need to have patience in the first few episodes only after that you will love watching it.

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Hard to watch

As much as this drama is filled w/ A list cast and A list supporting cast but the script itself its hard to like. The story started off intense with badass ML that even Italian Mafia can't mess with. Song Joong Ki's baby face wasn't exactly believable for the role but I still enjoy his acting. So as flames go up in ep 1 I am thinking K2 kind of drama coming up, hopefully he'll stop trying to speak Italian and just go into more action! Then came the over the top characters trying too hard to be funny. Most are just filler side characters that failed to be humorous at all. Maybe some people do enjoy this but the frequent switching back and forth between cool Vincenzo & idiotic forced humor really threw the whole drama off for me.

I love all the actors so I made myself watch through the drama however it was a struggle to be engaged in the drama. If they just stick to the story as an action drama instead of the absurd comedy nonsense it would've been a hit. My favorite part of the story is Jang Han Seo's character and the relationship developed between him & Vincenzo. Story deserves a redo!

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Such a fun show

I absolutely love this show, the storyline could maybe be a tad better, but otherwise it is pretty perfect for me. I love a good drama with some comedy and this has a good balance between the two. The cast have great chemistry and so far everything has been very enjoyable. The music is one of the best I've heard with a show, music always has such a powerful impact on my enjoyment of a show and this one is incredible, I listen to it while I work too. I love the main cast as well as the support cast. The villain can be a bit cartoony, generally I prefer a villain with some more depth, but it fits the vibe of the show and he is incredible in the role.

I've been watching through this show very quickly so I imagine I'll be finished in a few days.

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