Vincenzo

Don't be fooled by the FanFair.

I've dropped 3 dramas: 1 being Backstreet Rookie (couldn't handle the dude with the locs with flies in it being a regular character) and the other was a drama that I couldn't get into at the time, but I might revisit. Vincenzo was the worst of the three.

Where do I begin?

Let's start with the plot-
I don't think the general idea behind the plot is a bad one. In fact, I was interested and genuinely enjoying the first couple of episodes. It was as the story progressed that I realized that there was nothing to the story beyond the titular character.
When they named the drama "Vincenzo" they really meant it was the "Vincenzo Show" because quite literally everything was about this character. I don't ordinarily have an issue with this but if you're going to make a story about one character, make the story about them. Don't tell other people's story and force him to be the hero in it.

Things that made no sense-
-Vincenzo was meant to be an Italian lawyer. He was adopted at a young age and went to law school and practiced law in Italy. Realistically, he would have a far lesser understanding of Korean law than the female lead yet she and the other Korean lawyer on their team kept deferring to him for the next move as it related to the trial. That makes absolutely no sense-if anything, the female lead, who's been working at the firm that they're going up against for 8 years should've spear headed their case but because it's the "Vincenzo Show"...you get the gist.

- Our introduction into the female lead character is of her bribing a witness to prevent their testimony at trial while working at the firm they're now going against. However, when their case against the company (Babel) who's being represented by that same firm begins and they have witnesses to testify, she not only doesn't anticipate that this same tactic would be used, but she's surprised by it. She doesn't believe that they could do something as despicable as bribing witnesses WHEN THAT WAS LITERALLY WHAT SHE'S DONE FOR THEM BEFORE! Did the writer forget all about their female lead character once she met the male lead? It's like they decided that she's no more than his sidekick/love interest and he's the only one that gets to utilize his skills but if that were the case, why even bother making her a lawyer? Why even bother establishing her connection to the evil firm in the first place.

- What is Vincenzo's motivation and connection to the story? Beyond his desire to get his gold that's buried underneath the building that's primed for demolition, he's got absolutely no real connection to the story. He's singled out as the largest obstacle in Babel and the law firm's way, but he has no real drive for why. The female lead, however, does. She spent 8 years working for the firm-trusting the people within only for them to betray her. Her father was murdered by the evil corp. Her assistant whom she trusted for years turned out to be the leader of the evil Corp -he not only lied and manipulated her for years, but he murdered her father and grieved with her over the man that he killed yet the focus is on Vincenzo as we move forward with the plot to destroy them.

I feel like it would've been a much better story had they not spent every episode making Vincenzo the magical savior and allowed the other characters to shine as well. They could've split the responsibilities between Vincenzo and Cha Young-since they've already established that he's a morally grey character who's a member of the "Italian Mafia" and Babel is a company that operates outside of the law to get its way, they should've had Vincenzo handle the illegal things-things that are necessary when going up against such a company but ordinary people wouldn't have the means or resolve to do-killing, kidnapping, blackmail etc. while she handled the things in the light-using the law against them. Fighting them in court, with the skills that they taught her and also her ability to anticipate their moves as she's done it all before.

I didn't finish the drama obviously, but I learned that it was Vincenzo, once again who had the final show down with main villain and wouldn't it had made more sense if the one who brought Jang Han Seok to justice/ended him was Han Seok's brother and Cha Young (the female lead)? Han Seo spent his entire life under his brother's shoe, being terrorized by him and when he finally develops the strength to stand up against him, they kill him off so that Vincenzo can have the opportunity of the final show-down with him.

Also, the side characters were exhausting to watch at times unless you have the attention span of a fruit fly and you're between the ages of 12-14.

Vincenzo is the most random character in this story, and I feel as though the writers weren't thinking beyond casting Song Joong Ki and they ended up smothering what could've otherwise been a good drama.

You couldn't pay me to finish this mess.

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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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Almost perfect, if it wasn’t for one episode

I went into this show with high expectations - I had heard that this was the best show of 2021 - and for the most part I wasn’t disappointed. The acting, plot and music all go together perfectly and the show doesn’t get boring.

However, I was hugely disappointed by episode 8. I felt like they wanted to have lgbt representation but it came off slightly h*mophobic. The whole thing of manipulating the gay ceo and then using his phobia against him seemed too cruel just for a plot point that doesn’t get mentioned after that much. If it wasn’t for that episode i would have no complaints

Overall, it was an enjoyable series :)

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