Vincenzo

heavily misunderstood

here's a different opinion among all the "unpopular opinions'
hate to admit but the biggest reason all the reviews didn't like it, is because its a popular show.
people tend to hate anything that "everyone likes" whether they admit it or not
movies, shows, music, even people, anything popular WILL be hated because its popular no matter how good it is.
now that its out of the way,
here's what my title means. people found is uneasy how crime and comedy was twisted like that, someone mentioned it even felt wrong to watch.
that's the thing, over a mafia, crime, law show, its a comedy show.
everything, even sensitive issues are comedy. if you were going in expecting a serious crime, law show, you're in the wrong place. the show is bizarre, unrealistic, but thats the theme!! lets not forget this is about a ITALIAN MAFIA? obviously its fiction.
someone had an issue with the lgbtq+ representation and all i can say is, it depends on the intentions of the author.
we are all sick of lgbtq+ rep always being some tragic story, ending in death or them being a bad person.
but lets not forget, none of the characters ever had anything against him for his sexuality.
at the end of the day, queer or not, the dude was a psycho abuser!!
there was no heavy heavy plot. the entire story evolved over 1 thing in 2 parts. the gold under the plaza.
1) stop the demolition of the building.
2) how to reach the gold.
now the 2) of it was not heavily dived into, the story really revolved around 1)
I've watched this show a few times already, and i picked up something new every time.
i thought it wad bizarre hoe the company did so much over one of the many buildings they need to demolish, but if you look into it, there were a lot more personal reasons as to why they attacked it so much.
someone was mentioning how it was weird that all the plaza members could take down HIRED men, good question, but again, tell me one scene where the plaza members have been normal. that plaza isnt a regular one, every single family is unique, every person is questionable, sometimes even bizarre. Even the government spy dude like, there ain't no way someone of that position would be that stupid, and start admiring a mafia who could potentially harm the country and not to mention his misunderstood everything and his view was blinded by bias.
welcome to plot convenience. if the plaza members were "normal" they would've been kicked out any of those moments Vincenzo was away. that would severely effect the story + they were huge comedic relieve after every intense moment.
and if this government dude found about about the real reason Vincenzo was back and the gold and all that, things would head down down. now as much as its not something to praise, the show did it well, it was pretty clear all the bizarre moments were comedic and didn't really effect the story.
there is one thing about this show that i will be upset about forever, we know it, big spoiler ahead everyone.
jang han seo. how dare they. obviously every show does this, kill our dear FAVOURITE most INNOCENT character.
he lived his entire life in fear, i cant even imagine how it would be living with that psychopath. after all he went through, he gets that TOP TEN ANIME BETRAYAL DEATHS?? no funeral scene?? no memorial for him? no being upset over his death? just like that? "you deserve to be my brother" be real right now the only thing you deserve is a punch in the face for leaving him to die. YOU don't deserve to be called "hyung" so lovingly by him. it really added to Vincenzo's character, he's not a softie who'll sacrifice his life for someone like that.
how did they leave him and run like that. so. selfish. he did so much for you. risked his life, got physically abused. helped you to the very END, lets not forget the chip in the watch is what tracked down the psycho. you are alive in my heart forever T T
and lastly. ok taecyon love of my fuc-king life you ate that role so bad.
i dont think ive physically gasped like that for any of those big plot reveals fr.
everyone saying it was predictable bffr all of you came to watch it after yall saw a hundred reels and tiktoks ab it, obviously you'd know.
again, people, will never like something everyone does. because they like being different or "i could predict it from miles away" like sit down lets just appreciate that plot.
the way he switched between the psycho and fluff ball like what the f-cuk he made my blood boil throughout, and since the reveal i never once felt any pity for him honestly. i will never understand people who an love a character despite all the hundred flaws just because they are cute/ hot, where your head at he's a psychopath its not quirky to like him.
i do wish we got more of a backstory on him, was he born like this, how did he turn into this? again if we got a sad backstory people would over sympathize with him and say it was never his fault la la la (me included).
it would lack a TRUE villain you know? but then again are any people BAD just like that, doesn't everyone have a story?
lets not get into that but this show made me think about a lot. in no way were any of characters perfect. (except han seo everyone stop using logic for him i beg u) it showed contrast of human beings, deep down everyone is selfish to an extent, it gave a real picture on what people are like, in the few moments of serious.
this show is more than just what it looks like, and only some people will get that, and thats okay, i give it a solid 9/10.

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Did I like it? Yes. Would I criticize it? Also yes cuz why not?

This review will point out some positives and negatives.

I'll be speaking about 4 main points.

1. The Pacing
2. The Villain
3. The Romance
4. The Characters

[The Villain]

I'll start off with the biggest shortcome of this series, the villains. They were fundamentally weak antagonists. When you watch them, you DO NOT think,
"Wow, they are a step ahead."
"Omg, they are always winning!"
Because they never were. They were always behind. Even their so called small "victories" were never real victories. They were hollow. Whenever they try to gain an upper hand, they follow the exact same tactic throughout the entirety of the series. There were probably only few instances that they do something different aka bribe. You always knew, when watching, that Vincenzo would outsmart them. Which makes them boring and flat. They were not as smart as they initial were portrayed. The fact they even lasted that long is beyond me. I don't feel frustrated neither do I feel excited. They are that dull.

I had high hopes for our female villain but she truly just sucked. Had she been a good, smart opponent, it would have made everything more impactful and sweet when she gets what she deserves. One of the things that struck me as odd is how we don't get a background story on why she does the things she does and why she joined hands with Han Seok. Where does her trust in him stem from?

I would say Han Seo was the one that actually made me curious. He was a puppet but he was behaving in ways that were conflicting which made him interesting. His character development easily made him the most enjoyable one to watch.

[Characters/Pacing/Romance]

The series didn't use their time duration wisely. A lot of it was mundane. I would say they could have easily fixed it if they gave a bit of a background story about each of the tenants to deepen the connection with the viewer. Don't get me wrong, the tenants do grow on you and become an enjoyable aspect of this show. However, a short montage would have done the trick. It would have made this excellent if we knew more about them then just the surface.

With that being said, I would say the one character that disappointed me from start to end was the female lead. Her personality was fine and I gotta give her props for not enforcing her values on the male lead. However, she does BARE MINIMUM throughout the entire 28 hours of this series. Her role diminishes as the series goes. You know the writer messes up when the side characters does MORE than the main character. Even a bloody bird did something LOL. She is just there to represent Vincenzo plans during court because Vincenzo is Italian, therefore he can't be an attending lawyer in another country. I like it more when female characters have some worth to the story and she had the potential to go through a cool transition so it bummed me that it never happened.

But the good news is, she's a love interest. That covers up her shortcomings very well because you can enjoy the romance and the side characters can fill the gaps she is missing so you don't lose much viewing experience over her doing nothing. Romance is important because a lot of people can't watch a drama without romance. Plus the romance is actually mature, subtle and realistic. It doesn't use communication but actions to portray love. Whether you think they have chemistry or not is up to you to decide because it's subjective. If you you don't think they have chemistry then... YIKES.

Another thing I would say this series does well is being consistent with who Vincenzo originally were and they have done a lot of bold, daring, refreshing revenges that other dramas have never done before. It can't be replicated. When you watch them, they do leave an impact in you and it's very likely you won't forgot them.

I would like to end my review by saying the plot had a couple loose ends but you can move on from them. I do, however, want to address the Deus Ex Machina that is called the Guillotine File that somehow ended up in the same place as our protagonist...the whole existence of that file is ???? it doesn't bother me but I do want to point out how it's a very obvious plot convenience.

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Entertaining and fun to watch!

I enjoyed the drama quite a bit and give it a solid 8. I definitely think people should watch it. There were lots of things to love about it: the acting/cast, humor, action/fighting scenes, and thrilling main plot was fantastic.

However, I did detract some stars as there were a few things I would change. I think the beginning and middle was stronger than the end, as around episode 16 the pacing and side plots/characters went from tight and potent to loose and spaghetti like which detracted from the satisfying end. I felt like instead of fleshing out so many new pointless side characters (like the campaign guy towards the end) that it should have fleshed out already involved characters more and tied up some of the previous loose ends from earlier episodes in a neater way instead of just in the last episode during that montage to show that time had passed. It also seemed like the female main character disappeared in the last couple of episodes until the climax and was instead turned into a plot device. It was like the writer didn't want her character to know all of what VC did as they didn't make her character able to condone that level of revenge.

Also, I thought the villain reveal wasn't that iconic and was super obvious from the beginning and I thought was meant to be obvious for the audience as they didn't try to mask it at all and revealed it fairly early on in addition to the obvious clues. I was kind of hoping that a different character (the one related to the villain) was the true villain all along and was going to unusual suspects us at the end, I was disappointed that wasn't the case.

Though as I said, the show overall is really great, and the characters are unique and fun to watch. Give it a shot!

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Let me start by saying that I do feel reviews in general are based on an individual’s preference and Vincenzo is definitely my type of Korean drama.

This drama is currently on the top of my “most anxious/anticipated drama to watch”. It is hilariously funny, it’s got suspense, unexpected events, always something new and different to share in each episode. Some people might think this drama is a bit overboard with the comedy but I loved it! I enjoy every bit of it and each supporting actor contributes to that at one point or another. Each one also seems to be an expert in a different field from one another, so they each have their turn to shine and I also enjoyed this.

SONG JOONG KI - he makes an awesome Vincenzo, he’s got the cool, handsome vibe. He’s supposedly serious but that’s also what makes him just as funny. He’s a greater fighter and a sharp shooter. He really does make Vincenzo extremely attractive.

JEON YEO BIN - first time watching her and she’s got a great partner in crime with SJK so I’m hoping they can make her character shine a bit more.

OK TAEC YEON - seeing him play a villain was a bit difficult to adjust in the beginning but his character definitely grew on me. I loved his every so often small English phrases, I enjoyed seeing his anger and his frustration, just his plain evilness, he does a good job.

I feel the only thing lacking thus far is the romance between ML and FL and I’m such a huge fan of a good romance, so I’m hoping we get to see a bit more of it as it’s coming close to ending.

I watch this drama the same way someone would watch a movie at the theater. I need my snacks and drinks ready so I can be in tune, not miss a beat, and glue to my seat. I feel not every drama needs to be 100% serious and by the book, having a mixture of everything brings out the best of all worlds.

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2-star drama with a 5-star tag

the most overrated kdrama i've seen
it started off amazing, it had everything a good kdrama needs, suspense, comedy, and romance(the sexual tension between vincenzo and chayoung is like nothing i've seen before)
halfway through is where things started to go downhill:
it seemed like the writers knew their goal but didn't know how to reach it, and as a result they came up with the strangest plot devices.
by episode 12, this drama lost everything it had in the first 8 or so episodes, they seem to have forgotten where they started and now vincenzo and chayoung are just doing over-the-top and cringey stuff to embarrass jang hanseok....it has literally has no relevance to the plot.
the romance is the only good thing about this show and i feel like i haven't seen any of that in a WHILE.
some other things that annoyed me:
- hong chayoung is a really hypocritical and flaky character, she can't seem to stick to her own words
- the tenants with their over-the-top skits started to get annoying VERY quick, they got way too much screentime
- the dialogue is...BAD. it's childish. too many unnecessary lines. if two characters are about to do something, they should just go and do it! we don't need someone to say "come on,let's do ___!" each time.
- why are the good guys so bad?? i understand the main theme of the drama is that only evil can defeat evil, but what they're doing is no better than what babel is doing, i can't root for them
- additionally, their schemes aren't as "cool" as they make it seem, it's unnecessarily elaborate and falls flat, the way vincenzo and chayoung act all cocky makes me cringe 😂
P.S. every scene with the intelligence agent and his head officer was hilarious and inzhagi is the best character

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A TREAT TO WATCH <3

I have been watching so many shows simultaneously (thanks to the amazing country of South Korea for giving us these precious dramas all year round) and this one is such a treat to watch I'm in love with the whole concept, the main leads, and even THE VILLAIN heheee WOW I mean I wouldn't want to give you spoilers so i'll just say that everyone on this show has got a really really good sense of humor and that's what makes it a treat to watch.. The neighbors, the main girl, even the villain hahahahha and they all got style especially our Song Joong Ki & Jeon Yeo Been.. I am loving Cha Young's character so much she is smart, quirky, funny and sooooooooooo EXTRAAAAAAAA loove her and uri VincenZo shi ;) is the level-headed one.. That's why they make the perfect pair.. Loving both of them SO MUCH.. Loving the mafia vibe and loving how Vincenzo makes funny remarks keeping a poker face lol Song Joong Ki is an amazing actor.. How does he even do it?? He is funny yet scary at the same time while looking so incredibly handsome in his booralro suits??? Also, the highlight of episode 7, "THE CHILLI SCENE", You have got to watch this show guys every scene is worth it.. You are going to enjoy this show A LOT.. And I'm already so excited for the "heist" part because somehow I feel like all the residents will be involved and it is going to be insanely funny lol but that's just my assumption.. I'm only at episode 7 so let's see how it goes.. :D

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Clever Dark and Funny Show that is Occasionally Uneven

This show is difficult to cleanly categorize into a fixed genre which makes it very unique. It is a blend of a serious, revenge story and a comedy that isn't shy to draw on different strategies, including meta references to other Korean dramas. I feel the series' main strength is how clever the writing is: there are some very, very funny little moments and there are some very, very, tightly written storylines that have clear setups and payoffs -- I never felt that anything didn't make sense within the constraints of the Vincenzo world nor did I feel like a particular plot ending was overly contrived and random, as is unfortunately the case with some other Kdrama shows.

The symbolism and meta commentary of this show is next level. It's impossible to get into specifics without talking about spoilers, so I won't, but the way that certain things play out show a mastery of fiction writing that I think belongs in a novel.

However, because the drama doesn't consider itself 100% serious nor 100% funny, it does create some unintentional ridiculousness and pacing issues. For example, episode 1 establishes Vincenzo as a serious Italian mafioso to be reckoned with, but does so in kind of a semi-ridiculous Godfather kind of way that makes you wonder whether it is supposed to be funny or serious -- having finished the series, I still don't quite know, so my conclusion is "kind of both" which weakens the seriousness of the Vincenzo character, which is important because his expertise as a criminal is leaned on heavily as a plot device throughout the show. Furthermore, the most jarring sin related to this pacing issue is when you are watching a very serious plot line and show decides to throw in a scene that is only humorous -- in that moment, it's sort of like "I don't really care" because I REALLY need to know what happens with X or character Y.

Speaking of pacing, I think the first three episodes are the weakest point. You don't really know what the show is about until the first major event happens which takes place at the end of episode 3/beginning of episode 4. This is a short time but I think it's an important for a show to show you "what it's all about" right off the bat. However, this series opts for more world building and backstory instead. I also felt the conclusion of the story to be slightly hollow after it resolved everything -- it gave me the feeling of "everything as expected" without anything particularly pithy or unique if that makes sense.

Regarding actors, we have to give Song Joong Ki a lot of accolades. He clearly spent a LOT of effort to prepare for his role -- his Italian has been commented by native speakers to have flaws and word choice occasionally unnatural, but understandable without subtitles. This is an amazing feat considering how little time he has had to learn Italian. The other actors are very good too and I especially wonder why Jeon Yeo Bin has been such a well kept secret in the drama world (maybe because she has been working with movies all this time?). Her scenes playing "ridiculous mode" Hong Cha Young were easily the highlight of this show for me.

Overall, I think this series was a positive and enjoyable watch. You may think that review is overly critical for such a positive score, but I think there is a LOT of hype surrounding this show and I don't believe it is without flaws, so it is intentional to show a contrast to all the praise showing that I'm sure is everywhere. At the end of the day, give it a watch and decide for yourself.

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Dark comedy at its peak

Recently I have been quiet tired of all this romance and heartbreak stuff in dramas, so this show was probably the best combination of action, thriller, drama and a bit of romance here and there that you will find. When I first saw that it was going to have 20 episodes I thought it would get draggy or slow at some point, but trust me it doesn't.
This drama will have you sitting on the edge of the seats, glued to your screens for the whole time.

The story apart from the italian mafia part was genuinely pretty common, but the casting and acting made up for it. Song Joongki was his usual amazing hot self, but Ok Taecyeon just- , he played his part too well. Another really really good thing was how the female lead managed to not annoy me at all, she was strong, smart and righteous without being (again) annoying. Girl Power!

Also the guemga plaza people just stole my heart. Those characters had me wheezing. Even thought one that one thing had me crying at the end, overall I was suprememly satisfied and happy at the end of the drama.

So trust me one this one and just watch it. It is one drama that should not be missed.

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Overrated BUT a good drama!

pros:
- the acting: wow. the whole cast did an AMAZING job. I can't fault their acting at all. They all had brilliant chemistry with one another and I felt every emotion they wanted to portray. Bravo to the whole cast!
- the comedy next to the gore: on the contrary to what most have said about the comedy being out of place with the violence, I actually really enjoyed the stark contrast. Big fan of dark comedy lol kept things light enough to make the series not to feel too draining and gave everyone some depth in their personalities.
- fun villains! and I fell in love with some of the side characters because they were so charming.
- wowee, the ROMANCE!!!: Vincenzo did best was the romance. SJK and JYB have sizzling insane chemistry. Their romance reminded me of my fave anime, City Hunter, where they fall in love while working together and then becoming the cutest dream team ever. It was a mature romance where they mutually supported each other in healthy ways. If it weren't for the romance, I would have dropped this episode 4.
- a snazzy FL!

cons:
- plot was weak: with the rating and raging reviews, I was expecting an explosive plot but instead, the backseat romance storyline saved the drama imo. The plot was typical, predictable and overall meh.
- draggy: should have been a 16 episode drama. skipped loadsssssss from episode 10-19. I finished it so quickly bc i skipped so much lol i i get that it was meant to be slow-paced, slow burn or whatever but with a drama about mafia, it would have been better if it was punchy and to the point.
- ik this was not meant to be a romance drama, but it should have been. i would have rated this a 10 if they let the romance develop a bit more. they had two strong characters and actors with such chemistry and plenty leeway to make something more happen than what did. I don't think it would have taken away from the plot which i already lost interest in episode 4, but would have gave it more stability and would have made the ML seem more... human lol instead, a lot of screentime was wasted on god knows what on random characters (loved the side characters but didn't need to see them THAT much). idm the ML being super OP and perfect, but felt it was too extreme bc they didnt flesh out the more 'human' side of him, like loving others. which would have been interesting since ppl in the mafia are meant to be heartless.
- the ending was disappointing. they could have wrapped up the story so much better, like seeing the FL actually on his island. it just felt wishy washy that they threw in a kiss to a romance they hadn't even bothered to develop.

overall, 7.5/10. it was a good drama, no doubt. but not as good as it was hyped up to be. haven't watched kdramas in a while so this was nice first one in a while. do i recommend? a tentative yes. just go in with lower expectations. looking forward to the casts' future projects!

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