Not your favourite review. (Boring show)
I can never fully grasp why the rating is so damn high. So many people praise this drama and im sorry but this show aint for me.Firstly, im okay with illogicality in general. But the plot in this show is just too much. No cases were really being seen solved completely and its just shallow. Not a good delivery on each topic. The only reason i manage to watch it up to 15 ep is bcs of the undercover police officer and the assistant lawyer. Others are just overacting. The storyline is also slow and boring. Repetitive turn of events throughout the show. The only scene that enticed me is the appearance of truck-kun.
Apart from that, action and cinematography is great. But thats just it. Having predictable scene is just fine but this show lacks something that can keep me to be on the edge everytime something happened. I am also grateful for them to not include too much lovey dovey scene. Props to them for that. Then again, sorry for this review but i honestly dont think it should have those high ratings.
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“Annoying Slapstick”
Some described this series as a “dark comedy” but I beg to disagree. By proper definition, a dark comedy is one that makes light of a subject matter that is generally considered taboo or painful to discuss. There was nothing of that sort in this painful to watch drama that was full of annoying slapstick and exaggerated actions specially by the female lead who was supposed to portray a respectable and dignified lawyer. The rest of the cast members were as clumsy and absurd which made it all the more irritating. As for the main man - Song Joong Ki as crime boss adviser Vincenzo - his youthful, good boy appearance was not the sensible representation of someone belonging to the fearsome Mafia hierarchy. Nothing seemed to make sense. A ridiculous waste of $18M budget as well as a regretful waste of 20 hours of my time.Was this review helpful to you?
Great cinematography.... but fell short of everything else
From the show page, I've checked that Vincenzo currently has 159 user reviews and mine would be a review number 160. Why would I want to add another one on top of many ? Because I am hardworking like that and I like to spend my free time doing useless thingy like this. Also I have made a vow to do 1 review per year ,this might be it. So this is an unpopular opinion. My review will be brief and in point form..1) Cinematography and visual : Considering this was a high budget show *like TKEM* great visual is a must have . The show never disappoint in that department in fact Vincenzo excel with flying colours.
2) OST : I only like one song which is Adrenaline (Italian version) by Aalia which I wish we could hear it more in later episodes.
3) Acting of other than the main villain : The actors did the best with the materials they were given. Song Joong Ki looked dashing as usual ( like him in Innocent Man) Haa! Jeon Yeo Bin caught my eyes in this. She was stunning and I liked the point of her look, her lipstick. First time seeing her acting here and she was good.
4) Acting of the main villain : The reason I separated this with the others because I want to emphasize my view. I have issues with his acting. It was over the top like they want to make his character a caricature especially in the first 8 episodes. It was cringey like a cheesy pickup line and I hate this type of character :((( I could not take him seriously even when he did serious matter. Thanks god, this caricature acting was toned down in later episodes.
5) Storyline : Nothing spectacular. Been there done that in countless drama I have seen.But I liked the idea behind the story. '' Solo il male può sconfiggere il male ''. Only evil can defeat evil. It was refreshing to see the evil got their commensurate punishments as it should be. While I low key think the punishment were a bit too much although the villains kinda deserved it ----< this is the angel in me writing.
6) Humor : I was indifferent to it. I found it to be lame and pretentious. Most of the time , it gave me a second-hand embarassment.
7) Just a thing worth to mention. I never know that I could get tired of the word mafia (read in korean slang) until I watch this show. It was like hearing Love is the moment song all over again.Could everyone please just stop.........
That's all. Thank you for reading.
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This review may contain spoilers
Warning: Unpopular Opinion Ahead. Read At Own Risk.
Unpopular Opinion - People are only rating this drama high, because SJK is in it, and he's a popular actor in Korea and internationally, so anything that he's in will get hyped up. He's like the BTS of K-Dramas.Now, I will say that SJK's acting was amazing, and of course I was drooling over him like everyone else. But let's not lie to ourselves by saying that this is a masterpiece of a K-Drama, with an amazing never-seen-before mind-blowing story, the best one that came out in 2021. Yes, there's people that say stuff like this. Why not just admit we're enjoying it because SJK is hot as fuck? I can see how people might like some elements that I don't enjoy. But saying that the story is amazing is just a lie.
The things that I personally disliked that other people might find endearing are:
The Story - To me, it wasn't original in any way, shape or form, it just wasn't unique. There were no crazy plot-twists that would leave my jaw on the floor (the only one was the revelation of the real Chairman). At the beginning, it seemed like Vincenzo was going to follow a totally different structure from the other K-Dramas we see nowadays, but the structure of the story quickly became repetitive and predictable. It was pretty much just: Conflict happens. Vincenzo solves it. Humour. Conflict happens. Vincenzo solves it. Humour. And then it just pretty much follows the same formula, except maybe sometimes there's a death of someone that throws off this formula, but not for long. There's not much struggle for the characters, or a sense of urgency, or suspense, which makes it boring for me to watch. If there is some conflict, it either gets solved in the same episode, or in the next episode, which makes you feel like there are no stakes for the characters. Like, what's the point of introducing this conflict if it will be resolved right away? Another thing that threw me off was some funny moments that just felt misplaced at some points. I didn't hate all of them, but some of those just felt like unnecessary filler, which -again- made me feel bored. All in all, the pacing wasn't the best.
The Main Character - I know. I'm horrible. Although I liked the acting (and the visuals of SJK), the way Vincenzo was written just wasn't in my style. In my humble opinion, Vincenzo represents a Gary Stu. If you don't know what that is, here's a definition: "A male version of a Mary Sue. Seemingly perfect character with no flaws, or who always overpowers other characters." Again, people might disagree, but I feel like Vincenzo fits this description well. He's too OP, always solves everything, and never struggles, unless it's convenient for the plot. For example, throughout the whole drama, Vincenzo is this guy who's so smart and conniving, who always finds the most creative ways to destroy his opponent, which I wouldn't even dream of, he always ends up surprising us with his clever ideas to get out of bad situations. He's always ten steps ahead. But, when the writer wants to kill off Jang Han Seo, all of a sudden, Vincenzo turns into a coward who wants to run away. He always has these crazy ideas to win, but when the villain is lying on the floor, with the gun out of his hands, he fails to do the most simple thing - which is take the gun, beat him up, and capture him. Vincenzo doesn't struggle much throughout the story, and when he does, it's done in a way that doesn't make sense for his character. It would be fine if he was a side character, but because he's a main lead, it means we have to follow him around. It's not endearing at all. I like following characters that struggle, and that have weaknesses, because that makes them more likeable. If they have flaws, weaknesses, struggles, and end up failing from time-to-time, it makes them more realistic, which makes them more relatable, which makes them more sympathetic. Not to mention, if a main character starts out practically perfect, it means there's no room for character development. That's Vincenzo. He's smart, witty, strong, handsome, and creative. And when he does have a bad trait, it's a trait that ends up not changing. As a result, Vincenzo ends up being the exact same person in the first and last episode. It's something others seemed to like, but as someone who's a sucker for good character development, I wasn't impressed. Personally, I didn't have a problem with any other characters. Some I was okay with, some I even liked. Because Vincenzo played the biggest part of the story though (obviously), that's probably why I ended up feeling bored most of the time.
The Humour - I actually didn't hate this. I have mixed feelings about this. There were times where I appreciated it, and times where it felt forced, unnatural, and it ruined my immersion. In those moments, the humour felt unbearable. Especially during moments I didn't find funny, I would cringe, or just want the story to move on. I also know a lot of people liked the not-realistic aspects and that K-Dramas aren't supposed to be realistic. But for me, some of the things that happened were too much, even for K-Drama logic. There were some moments that just felt like an obvious filler, and I just couldn't get over some moments how a character would die in one scene, and then straight afterwards, we would have them acting all silly. Sometimes, it just didn't fit the mood, and there were moments where I wished they would of let the dread and suspense linger, because it would make the humorous moments more impactful, in my opinion.
That being said, I didn't hate everything. That's why I didn't give it one star. The things I did like:
Cinematography - I loved the camerawork, and how they shot certain moments. You can see the high budget reflected in the drama, when you watch it. Of course, the amazing cinematography captured SJK's beauty well. I also like the symbolism behind some shots.
Acting - I think they chose great actors, who portrayed their roles perfectly. There was not one actor I've seen in this drama, which I would find to not do well. The heroes, villains, and anti-heroes all showed great range of emotions.
Antagonist - I noticed that a lot of people don't like Jung Woo being the real chairman, because he's too silly and cartoonish, and because he dances around and acts like a fool. But that's exactly why I liked him. Because he has a personality other than the fact that he's evil. People think that he's not a scary villain, because of this, but that's exactly what's scary about him. The fact that he can manipulate people like that without batting an eye, and change his personality. People also complained that he's not smart enough, but not all bad guys have to be smart and meticulous. I found him interesting, because he was so short-tempered, vengeful, and totally insane.
The Humour - Like I said, I had mixed feelings about it. Although it felt out of place sometimes, I did appreciate it. Because I found the story boring, as well as the main character we followed, the humour ended up being the thing to keep me entertained, as well as some interesting characters. I especially liked the more subtle humour.
Character relationships - I liked some relationships between the characters. For example, the development of Vincenzo's relationship with the Plaza tenants, and how they started liking him the more they got to know him. I also like the slow development of Vincenzo's and Hong Cha Young's relationship. It felt realistic, and endearing, how they got closer to each other the more they've been through together. Everyone who interacted with each other at some point, ended up having visible chemistry, which is something I could enjoy.
Writing - Although the story felt recycled, I really liked the writing. It made each character's personality stand out. I especially enjoyed the metaphors and proverbs they would sprinkle in, at certain situations. It felt rewarding to be able to destroy the bad guy by being witty, and turning the script on them. The dialogue was clever, with quite a few call-backs, which I appreciated, as well as some entertaining references.
Overall, though, all the good points didn't save the drama for me. I just didn't find myself enjoying it like everyone else did and couldn't understand why everyone felt like this drama was so revolutionary (but now I think I know). It just feels like one of those moments where a basic drama gets over-hyped by everyone, and actual amazing and creative dramas will get overlooked, and will be underrated, because they don't have famous actors in it. Maybe I expected too much, because of how much praise this drama got, but I left disappointed. In 2021, I watched dramas with similar genres and tags to Vincenzo, which did way better in everything that Vincenzo lacked in. In the end, it was nothing special.
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PAINFUL
I am a native Italian. I lived in Milan for 18 years. My family happened to be involved in politics and law. One of my aunts, a judge, was a NON-CORRUPTED member that fought and almost got killed because of her involvement in Berlusconi's trial. I do not know who you are or where you are from, but I travel extensively and I know EACH COUNTRY have crime organizations with local names. My country organizational crime is called MAFIA. Now, my blood almost exploded out of my veins when I saw baby face Song Joong Ki acting as mafia lawyer .My biggest fear became reality when girls and young women are raving about Mafia guys with pride and honor. NO SUCH THING. From The Godfather, to the Soprano , ending with Korea....enough is enough. Korea has MASSIVE crime in the form of loan sharks, due to the extreme nepotism and corrupt government. So I watched all these show and though we were very similar. ONE BIG DIFFERENCE: mafia is a PRODOTTO ITALIANO, made in Italy, so don't export slavery, pedophiles, drug dealers and pimps. Korea is producing such high quality shoes: Flower of evil, my mister, Hyena.....Awaken...I mean, I think you can use Mafia only to make fun of it, or to fight it. Not as a show. Grazie.Was this review helpful to you?
Fun but overlong
I'll make the review short..The majority of what is wrong with this show stems from the fact that that the show is too long for its own good. Each episode is almost 70 - 90 minutes in runtime. It being a netflix show, i dont know why they had to stretch each episode to reach this runtime. The series would have been much better if the episode count was reduced to 16 or the by reducing the episode length.
To fill the runtime there are many unnecessary jokes and setups for comedy which works sometimes but not nearly enough. Whatever emotional aspects or urgency the story tries to bring fizzles out in the end due to this..
I was on board with the romance aspect of the story, i think the charm of the characters and actors worked well and the chemistry was really good. The over the top nature of the story never bothered me (When was Korean Dramas not over the top😅).
Story was not perfect dont get me wrong but still i was not bored by it but at the same time i wont be rewatching it any time soon...
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unbelievable plotlines
I just can't give a high rate to this drama. the acting was great especially that of ok taec yeon, i think so far this is the best i've seen him act. non the less song joong ki's espressions were "impeccabile". it would have been more better if the plot wasn't as exaggerated as it was, the story was just over the top. i mean is great to see the main leads not losing all the time to the villians , but it just has little credibility like giving all the tenant special skills that were always usefull to the lead in every situation, being saved by pigeons from been killed for no reason, and the ML being able to in and out of any building on his own so freely without getting caught not even once on the cctv. but they always had proof of other people's actions.Personally if i were to choose btw vincenzo and chief kim, i would go for chief kim. for the reasonable plotline and acting and choose vincenzo for the comedy line and goodlooking ML and taec yeon's acting. Mi dispiace.
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The drama actually sounds as crazy as it sounds on paper and yet I don’t think the description does it justice. Usually, I do not like such makjang type dramas or over the top soap opera style shows, but here it is done with so much humor and skill so instead of getting on my nerves I got this weird mix of soap opera, thriller, and comedy and then a group of weird, flawed and morally gray characters. It is a weird mix, but it works surprisingly well together. There is a good balance between all these different factors, and it makes quite a cohesive story.
Despite all the laughs and the absurdity that the drama throws at us, it never seems as if it is mocking the story or this soap opera world that is had crafted around it. It’s more playing with it and really take advantage of it. The show takes itself quite seriously with it tone, and yet it does not because it’s main goal seems to be making the most entertaining story, and achieving that is not easy. It’s shows a certain strength within the story and the vision the people behind it had. And that shines quite clearly within the story and makes Vincenzo quite stylish.
The story goes in circles a bit. Sometimes things just seem to happen just because the story needs them to happen just for it to move forward. Some things feel too convenient but the show seems to be very aware of it that you kinda don’t question it too much. It feels wonderfully self-aware of it’s genre, which also helps you suspend your disbelief and keeps you thoroughly entertained while even the most convenient plot points are happening. The story sort of manages to be logical within this small world it has created.
It plays with the soap opera formula and the clichés that comes with those stories and tales of the mafia, to take the story and comedy to another level, making things more exciting, crazier, without making fun of it. It has all done to entertain us or to provoke sort of reaction out of the audience.
But I think it is the characters that really make this show what it is. They are just so fun or interesting! Every single character, whether they are supporting characters or not, have their own quirks and darker sides, although to varying degrees. They are all quite ridiculous and complex in their own way.
Our hero Vincenzo is more of an anti-hero and even the antagonist gets some nuances and quirks that even if you sort of hated them you also enjoyed watching them. I have personally not enjoyed a villain in a kdrama this much for quite some time. They brought so much tension, drama, and comedy into the show that I was almost more excited to see what they would do more than our protagonist.
The same goes with the supporting cast. I enjoyed every scene, every little side-plot that they had going on, which does not always happen. Sometimes they feel like fillers to extend the story for no good reason, but here the supporting characters get to control both the humor of the episodes but also the heart of the show. They all felt important, flawed, and interesting in their own way. They are not just comic-relief,
The romance in Vincenzo is slow and never takes over much of the story itself, although it is very often lingering in the background and the drama is always alluding to it. However, it is never the center of the drama. It is not the main story or focus, and I have to say for my part I am usually fonder of a slow-burning romance and that really worked well here with everything else going on. I love some good pining and longing because the character does not want to admit that they are in love or have not realized it. And there was more than enough of that in Vincenzo. Both are learning to trust others and become good people. Although no one is really a good person in this show.
Do I feel like the drama could gave allowed Chae Young to save herself a little more instead of always having Vincenzo come and save the day and the drama itself had a tendency to rely a little too much on the charm and the visuals of Song Joongki for my taste. It became a bit too repetitive after a while.
Vincenzo is a style of kdrama that I rarely see. And although it contains many basics of soap opera storytelling and other types of kdramas out there, I feel it does stand out because I have never quite seen this mixture before. No matter what the drama did it was always exciting to see what happened next and it always kept me surprised even though I thought the story went in some circles and brushed over certain things along the way. I never felt like they truly ran out of ideas to entertain me and entertain me it certainly did. It never really dealt all its cards.
Vincenzo is not flawless, but it is a hell of a good time. There is always this tension within it, you kept on wondering what would happen next, what these characters would do. You have no know what is going to happen. There is always a lot going on and so much high drama, such high stakes, yet still always so filled with humor. It was a real roller coaster ride from start to finish.
Vincenzo grabbed me completely and did not want to let me go until the very end. I have not enjoyed a kdrama and the discussions that took place around this much it for some time now. And that is what I will take from it; it was just pure fun. It was pure entertainment for me.
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To each their own, I suppose
Vincenzo is the type of drama that just isn’t for everyone. Funny story - I wasn’t actually going to watch this drama for a long while despite hearing amazing things about it on the internet (I’m not very interested in law/crime/mystery dramas), but I used that fancy new “watch something” button on Netflix, and it started playing Vincenzo. So I guess I just continued watching it after that. Despite being better than the other primarily law and crime focused dramas I watched previously, I ran into the same problem with Vincenzo that I had with all the other dramas of its genre. Because so much of the story is action-packed and has to be focused on the plot, the character development fell to the sidelines as usual. I’m the type of person who watches dramas more for the characters rather than the plot itself, which is why I rarely enjoy this genre. My reasoning is that if I don’t care about the characters, then I don’t really care about what happens to them either. Now, that is not to say I didn’t shed a tear while watching this drama - I totally did. I just believe I would have enjoyed Vincenzo a lot more had it been more character than action focused (not the drama’s fault - mine). On top of that, I never really got into the humor of this drama (okay fine, it was pretty funny a few times) nor did I appreciate the drama’s slow pace. I watched the majority of Vincenzo at 2x speed (never doubt my subtitle reading skills lmao) and struggled to remain focused watching the drama at its regular pace. I honestly really expected more from the drama’s action part of the plot, since it was so dominant in this drama. Instead, I got cliche scenes where the characters somehow couldn’t kill each other despite the thousands of chances they had to do so. There were quite a few cliche action sequences and the plot itself felt repetitive and a bit all over the place, especially toward the end. Vincenzo himself also felt unrealistically perfect with his ability to take down a group of 20 guards with nothing but his bare fists. All in all, it’s generally hard to impress me with a good action drama, but Vincenzo did leave me with a pretty good impression despite the shortcomings. I actually grew to like the characters and really appreciated the amazing cinematography and music. I can definitely see why someone would enjoy this type of drama - it just wasn’t entirely for me. Side note - why are we mad at the ending? I literally thought it was just fine.Was this review helpful to you?
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disappointed
I was actually so hyped about this drama because everyone kept talking about it. So I thought this one would be definitely something special. Oh how wrong I was...The storyline could be actually really interesting. An lawyer who worked for the Italian mafia flees back to Korea and after some incidents he starts to work with another lawyer to win a case against a conglomerate called Babel Group. Sounds pretty good, right? However, they somehow managed to make it a little bit draggy and illogical. Starting with the most annoying thing, the reveal of the villain. I mean yeah, every villain has to be revealed, but here they just made it too soon. I was pretty shocked but after knowing who the real villain was, the whole story started to repeat itself. It was always the fight between the bad ones and the good ones. Then there was one thing I asked myself so often: Where the hell was the government? Like excuse me but it was a drama revolving around law and rights, but the only lawyers, prosecutors,... were people from the firm which was working with the Babel Group and the main leads. Even the police worked with the Babel Group and were shown very incompetent in the drama. Argh, a lot of things just didn't make any sense. Last thing which got really on my nerves was the lack of romance between the main leads. The chemistry was there, I can't deny it, but the poor writing just made the love story between them look so unrealistic. And before I forget, 20 episodes were way too long, I think only 16 would have been better. This drama is full of wasted potential. They could have do something really special out of it.
To the characters... there are a lot. It's not a Penthouse-like drama where all the characters have their own story and are interesting to the viewers because they have to do something with the main plot. No, many of the characters were unnecessary. Especially the people who lived in the plaza resident. There were to many and all of them had exaggerated and/or unrealistic characters. There were also some "bad" guys who wanted the plaza resident acting always really weird. It felt like they've been just there to make things funnier. Then many lawyers, policemen or prosecutors seemed like they hadn't more then three brain cells. Seriously, so many stupid characters were involved in the main plot. The only person who showed how capable he was, was the villain. Omg, I never saw such a villain before. He was such a psychopath and it suited such a drama perfectly! The actor nailed this role. Sadly the drama tried to make things funnier (and I'm not gonna lie some scenes were really funny) but because of this overused comedy the story seemed too unrealistic. The main characters were also wasted potential, especially the main male lead. VC (male lead) is a lawyer who worked for the MAFIA but I never really felt like he was someone dangerous. At the beginning his character was shown as some ruthless guy who flees to his homeland, but later this feeling just disappeared. HCY (female lead) had a pretty interesting character, I don't think I ever saw someone like her, she was a real crackhead. Sometimes it was just too much where the secondhand embarrassment slowly started to show itself, but overall her character was really interesting to watch.
The music wasn't something special for me. I can't even remember the soundtracks.
Overall, the drama was okay. I actually started it because I wanted to watch something more serious, but laughed mostly at the ridiculous scenes. I wouldn't rewatch this drama again, it just didn't left an good impression on me like other dramas.
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Just...what?
I know this show was super popular and let be start with the good stuff:Amazing acting. Seriously...all the actors/actresses are great in their roles and some are playing very different characters than we have seen them in before so that is impressive all on it's own.
The Look - This show looks amazing and was filmed really well.
The not so good stuff:
Story - Interesting at first, but then got super violent and hard to take at times. Started out great, but got really over the top and cheezy a lot of the time. Also it was very hard to watch the villians be so awful. I mean, I know you are supposed to dislike them, but it's really just too much and instead of wanting justice for their crimes, I just didn't care about seeing them at all. And the violence...it's way way too much. Especially in the last episode. That was just a horror show that did not need to be seen. It was awful.
Characters - Disliked literally every character. Even though they were well acted, it was hard to root for the "good guys/gals" and even the side characters were just too over the top most of the time. My friend and I watched this show together and we decided the only "good" character is the pigeon. So there is that. I mean it's hard to cheer for even the "heroes" when they are willing to murder and be awful humans as well. Some of the characters started out likable, but by the end, I was ready to be done with all of them...except the pigeon. Him we could see more of. :-)
So, I can't recommend this drama. It's just extremely violent and hard to take.
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You can avoid flying knives, but you can’t avoid hidden ones
Review: South Korean series ‘Vincenzo’This has to be one of the best series I have watched. The cinematography and everything were impressive. The storyline was smoothly played out without any disappointments. The unpredictable twists and turns were what kept me on the edge of my seat every episode. The plot is not only masterful but the comedic timing at every turn, keeps you wanting more content. I liked this show because it features a female character who represents everything patriarchal society disapproves of - she’s loud, outspoken, persistent, etc and doesn’t hesitate to make herself visible in a crowd. What I love most is that the plot didn’t go follow the evil to morally good cliche, instead, the protagonist aka Vincenzo justifies his existence as someone who uproots evil when the law is not sufficient to punish the monsters which makes the show even more unique. This doesn't also mean that Vincenzo is a hero, he's an anti-hero. As per him, he is trash who can't stand the trash that smells worse than him.
This drama shows us that there are instances where justice should and can be served mercilessly in a so evil world nowadays. The whole show truly lived up to its genre, which is ‘dark comedy’ and focused on their motto “only evil can punish evil” and I believe they’ve delivered it perfectly.
The cast indubitably performed so well that I could feel the emotions going on in every scene. Until the last scene, they unquestionably did a great job.
It’s a must-watch series - 10/10, will recommend it to everyone.
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