Vincenzo (2021)

Process of 'Vincenzo': Hm, BOOM. BOOM, Boom, Hmm..., Hmm!

Point of Story: Gold
Gradually Shifted Focus: Babel
This is not noir or a gritty drama.
Actually, much of the drama is about being 'cool', and then it becomes dark(er).

Advice in Advance: Show should not be taken seriously.
If I had to simplify everything my review says below:
The worst part about this show is the plot, because there are later frequent loopholes and because the first couple episodes aren't interesting. Show does not take itself seriously. The takeaway I had was that the show's focus is not on the plot, but the message it sends out. Themes and characters are worth pondering, and the story discusses corruption and evil through comedy and cool scenes. In fact, comedy distracts some of the illogicalities/inconsistencies of the show due to overblown scenes, so it milds down some loopholes (comedy acts as a somewhat separate scope of logic). Mafia persona should not be taken seriously until three-quarters of the series. However, I rated it a 9 overall still because of the feelings it gave me, and for defying K-Drama relationship tropes. If logically rating it, I would give it a 7.5-8.0. Flaws are all listed above, but to be honest, I really liked this drama despite its faults.

In-Depth Review:

There are two ways I rate a drama: through critical analysis and the feeling while watching.
The feeling of watching it is great if you stick to the scope of its logic.

Not a heist drama (for those wondering about the gold), and not a 'dark comedy' (totally misleading). It is a show about rampant corruption within the ranks of prosecutors, court cases, lawyers, corporations, and so on, and mixed with a hefty amount of slapstick comedic relief. Comedic relief is a break in between and does not affect the plot, serving as its own universe.

The change (especially from dark to comedy) of Italy to Korea is unnerving, but thankfully it's a very short while IF you know this. The focus is on Korea, NOT Italy. This I later found very pleasant because it would be foreign to write about a Korean-Italian mafia member in Italy as it a foreign topic and seems like its structure is fantasized. In fact, the Mafia persona is already the most fantasy-structured part, if you don't count the humor.
Many came for the Mafia persona, so here's a hint: His mafia persona acts as a background introduction until about the middle of the series, where his characterization is looked more deeply into. It's not The Godfather. This is all in K-Drama style.

The first three episodes are not so gripping. I personally don't like it when people tell me to wait until a show gets good, so it's up to you to stick around or not. For me, it was unexpectedly worth it.
At its fourth, it picks up the pace and goes on a huge exponential growth of anticipation and excitement until around the middle, and then it goes through a kind of confusing period and then, I would say a satisfactory ending.
(Hence the title of this review)

Here are the best things about this drama: Unfaltering characterization consistency and an independent female lead. It also does not goes back on its themes and many lines in this drama are worth pondering on.

The drama has about two episodes worth of filler in its run towards the end, but I would argue the ending is a good end. It wraps up every single plotline and unanswered question. However, there are definitely plot and logical loopholes, though you are able to rationalize this with character motivations. Still, if you took out the supporting cast's comedy, then it could be broken down into even fewer episodes. Still, the comedy does fill in errors, and the significant moments don't work if the drama is gritty.

The soundtrack is definitely a selling point and never misses. The acting is on point (minus the comedy, because I didn't find it funny), and the chemistry between the two leads is great in the workplace. Romance is a slow burn, not front and center, and doesn't affect the plot.

The ending is kind of open, in the sense that you can imagine what's going to happen, but wraps up everything. The drama is also a great exploration into different themes and definitely has the most brutal blood-type scenes I have seen in a K-Drama (it's not that brutal, just so considering the scope of violence in K-Dramas).

I would especially say that I really never considered SJK to portray a mafia member because his image didn't stick it out to me. I still can see that point, but his acting definitely pulled through and made it believable. I also think his blend of comfortable humor and dark acting worked very well. Speaking of humor, slapstick (typical K-Drama style) is a large part of the drama, though not very important, so you can skip some of it, mostly serving as a distraction or breather from the plot. I personally am not so fond of the cast, because I saw them as mainly as fill-ins, but many like them gradually. Still, humor worked the best when it was under the working relationship of the leads because it was a simple integration within the story.

Do give it a try. I might have been disappointed with some parts but not utterly shocked and dismayed by it, and I still recommend this no matter what. I left the drama with a light and fulfilled heart.
Ah, that sentence is a little underwhelming.
It is the drama I enjoyed the most thus far in 2021.
I joined MDL to participate in its discussions.

If not, we can sure agree to disagree. Hope this helps.

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I recommend watching it.

The plot and story were very well thought out. I was shocked at the plot twists in almost every episode.

I read someone saying that they didn’t like the FML’s acting, but I loved Jeon Yeobin’s acting, FMLs don’t usually act that way, so it was nice to see something different.

There were not a lot of romantic scenes, there were more revenge/anger and comedy scenes.

Oh, the comedy in this kdrama was amazing. There’s usually only one actor that would be the funny guy, but on this one there were like 5 guys who would be in charge of the comedy.

Ok Taecyeon… Wow!!! *clap, clap, clap*

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One of the only dramas I would consider perfect

Some of these reviews calling Vincenzo overhyped baffle me. This was hands down one of the best dramas I've ever seen. Song Joongki as Vincenzo was absolutely amazing, and the rest of the cast perfectly complemented him.

Vincenzo is a mafia lawyer who has left his mafia family in Italy to return to Korea and retrieve the money he has stashed there. in the form of gold. This gold is conveniently buried under a building in order to keep it safe, but he must tear down the building to retrieve it. One small issue: the building is full of tenants. In the midst of attempting to figure out how to get these tenants to leave, Vincenzo encounters a much larger problem: the conglomerate Babel is attempting to buy the building from him in order to demolish it and build their own. Vincenzo decides to take the side of the tenants in order to secure his building, without revealing his true plans. This gets him wrapped up in Babel's business, which leads to bigger problems than he ever anticipated.

This is a drama that starts off seemingly light and fun, with funny building tenants and even funnier interactions between them and Vincenzo. However, as the show progresses, it becomes darker and darker. The morally gray protagonist Vincenzo makes you question whether or not you should be rooting for him time and time again, and while he always seems to come out on top, you're never quite sure if that was for the best, or if the ends could ever justify his means. Throughout the show, this unsettling feeling grows in the viewer, until you're not really sure if you should have ever rooted for him in the first place...

This show kept me on the edge of my seat every episode. With elements of crime, law, and mafia, I knew I was bound to like it but it truly blew me away. I wish I could watch it for the first time again.

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Vincenzo -- Another TvN drama that doesn't really land the ending

Hi everyone,
This is my first kdrama review on this site, so please be nice!
Vincenzo is the kind of drama that I find to be a pattern with TvN shows -- it promises a lot but it doesn't deliver what it says it will. The writer does a great job of building the hype, but kills it on their own with a few mistakes. I'd like to emphasize that these weren't a dealbreaker for me necessarily since I finished the entire series, but they did definitely make the show a drag.

Downsides to this Drama: (Only 3 y'all, don't wanna bore you! 😜)
[1] The rich man with an infinite amount of money
A classic K-drama stereotype. The heroine in need of money and the hot, rich guy who has a bottomless bank account and they're madly in love. This is one of those tropes that is funny at first because of how ridiculous it is, but in Vincenzo, it's pretty much the driving force behind the plot. In almost every episode, Vincenzo is showing off his wealth and yes the actor does make it look cool at first, it gets boring to watch towards the end. Love the actor, not a fan of this character.

[2] Villians that never change their evil-doing patterns
This is a less commonly seen trope in kdramas, which I normally find exciting and fun. The bad guy tries something, he fails in front of the hero, so he comes up with something even more sinister that keeps you on the edge of your seat. In Vincenzo, there's an attempt to do that but it often falls short. Vincenzo gives the villian a run for his money, something pretty cool to watch, but not as fun when a single character is basically driving the plot alone.

[3] Romance is subtext
Now, I know I'll get some bad rep for this one. Yes, I know the main point of this show isn't romance, but I mean, the writer was being rather stingy with his romantic moments here. I mean, even a little bit more would've been good by me. It's really cute in some parts, but so many things get left unsaid that you just keep wishing they'd added a little more to the dialouge in the emotional scenes. Not the worst, but I'll live.

Upsides to this Drama:
[1] Side characters that live in your head rent free.
This show is one of those where you get attached to the side characters without meaning to. You laugh more when they're on screen, and you really want to see them get their happy ending. The writer does a great job at creating this fuzzy feeling of family among people who really couldn't be more different. Awesome.

[2] No goody-two-shoes good guys here.
Vincenzo isn't afraid to break some rules, and neither is Chae-young. They're tough, they play dirty when they know they're going to lose, but they do it with elegance. Not to mention, a badass power couple fighting crime together? Sign me up!

[3] Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Every villian in this show gets what they deserve twofold, part of a somewhat gruesome but also weirdly satisfying ending. It's a bit much, but at the same time fits the vibe of the show. It'll surprise you for sure, I know it surprised me.

Overall:
Vincenzo is definitely a show with its flaws, but I wouldn't say it's an awful one so it's a 7/10 from me. The music gets a 7, the acting gets an 8 (because of the good chemistry). If you're okay with some very in-your-face and over the top cliches, like rich-man-with-infinite-amount-of-money, go right ahead. Just let yourself laugh it off, even when the show's being a bit much. It's not the most serious show, but it will make a statement. That being said, I'm more of a romance woman myself, so rewatch value is gotta be a 6/10 for me.

Hope this helps someone! Have a great day y'all.

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Excellent

Vincenzo is one of the best kdrama I´ve ever seen! An excellent cast for both good and bad guys, interesting characters and the whole story with balanced mixture of brutal action, emotions and smart comedy, not oversweetened romance, mostly logical script, sometimes a bit exaggerated but fun, nondistruptive flashbacks, greatly concieved direction and camera, top visuall aspect and overall setting, fitting OST. I appreciate the connection with Italy as I studied italian language for some time. My first rating was 9 but after rewatching I need to increase it to 10 and add it to my all time favorites.
The only thing I would see as a drawback is frequent advertising, but it is reasonable as the production must have been pretty expensive. Also - a tiny spoiler - no Italian, plus such a picky eater, would enjoy an instant coffee XD

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Um dos meus favoritos❤️

Amo demais esse drama!! É uma mistura de comédia, ação e máfia. Eu sei que ele tem defeitos, mas eu não posso evitar, eu amo o enredo, o cenário, os personagens principais, os personagens secundários, TUDO! Vincenzo e Cha Young são tão fofos, o desenvolvimento deles é muito bem feito e interessante de assistir. A trama também é muito intrigante e te deixa sempre com um gostinho de quero mais. Os personagens que moram no prédio são bem esquisitos, mas de um jeito divertido. Eu realmente gostei dos vilões e do conceito de mal vs menos mal. Este é um dos meus dramas favoritos de todos os tempos, e vou defendê-lo até a minha morte.

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Spettacolo molto bello con un uomo molto bello*

*That's with Google Translate, so forgive me if you're an Italian speaker.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was mostly a “loved”.

I am writing this review after re-watching show from start to finish for the first time since it came out (which is when I watched it the first time).

Things I liked:
Characters. Vincenzo Cassano. I loved the complexity of the character. That he had moments of fear, loss, and humanity. I loved how well he was played by Song Joong Ki who, despite being known for his youthful appearance (I completely believed him as the twin teenagers in the Arthdal Chronicles), can also pay a ruthless bad@$$. I liked Hong Cha Young as well. I remember reading comments/reviews that some did not like her character, but I liked her better on the re-watch. She was outspoken, outgoing, irreverent, and brave. She was not this sweet, innocent female lead who fit all the tropes of a pure heart and soul. She, too, was a complexly written character. Ok Taec Yeon did an amazing job playing two sides of the same person. He did such a good job as a monster, I’m currently re-watching “Secret Royal Inspecter & Joy” just to see him play a nice person. Lol! And finally, Choi Myung Hee because this character broke all the tropes about evil women. She was horrible but it had nothing to do with her gender or jealousy. I liked the plaza residents, their different personalities, their quirks.

Other things: I liked the moments of fear, tension interspersed with tragedy but also love and humor (even slapstick) because real life is that way. There are times when we are crying because we’re laughing so hard and then crying because of sorrow. I also liked the tension—I had a hard time predicting what would be coming up in the plot. For example, I did NOT predict who would become the main antagonist in the show. Usually, if I questioned a plot point (for example, when Vincenzo goes to threaten the CEO with a gun, I could not figure out why he just didn’t shoot him—it was so out of character for him to hold a gun on somebody and then talk…but the next episode explained it all) it would all be revealed later and would make sense—some inconsistencies aside.

Set/music/styling. This was well done many times throughout the show. The first scenes of VC in the vineyard and then defending himself against assassination were gold. When he first defended the Plaza residents. When he was riding that horse…(though I did which they had gotten him a pair of tighter pants—not even from the aesthetic sense, but from a horseback riding perspective, he was going to have some serious chafing…).

Things I did not like so much:
Motivation. Those were not always fleshed out well. I mean, why was Babel Group ALWAYS so horrible!? It was like their mission statement was “do as much evil as possible even if doing legitimate business might actually be more profitable in the long run…”. They were actively killing off their own employees and test subjects—that just does not make sense from a business standpoint. Even though I liked the fact that Choi Myung Hee’s gender was not usually made an issue in the show, I did not understand why she was such a terrible person. It was not entirely clear why she disliked the FL on first sight nor why she always chose killing people off as the best option. The way they introduced her in the beginning, she seemed like she would be a sympathetic character, but then once she got to Wusan, the gloves came off (but they imply she was the hitman-by-proxy when she worked for the gov’t, too). The evil main lead and evil female lead just kept doing stupid things to piss VC off. They SAW the pictures of what he’d done in Italy, why on earth did they think that would not happen to them!? (And why did CMH always scream in terror every time she was threatened--like she had not wrought such on others!? And does no one in South Korea own a washing machine of their own?)

Inconsistencies, unrealities. The pigeon rescue was a bit much…cute, but beyond my ability to suspend disbelief. Why was VC always using civilians!? He was a mafia consigliere, even if he did not have the same level of connections in SK, why would he ever trust these serious jobs to civilians!? I get that is how they included the Plaza residents in the story, but it did not make sense from a logical point of view—especially when they wrote VC’s character to be so brilliant. And how did all the Plaza residents turn out to be professional fighters!?--I felt like they threw that in there at the last minute with zero logical set up in the plot beforehand.

Violence. It was bit too much, for me personally, especially towards the end. It made it hard to like VC’s character fully since he was capable of such ‘creativity’. They try to explain it away, but still, for me, personally, that was one of my dislikes of the show.

Conclusion. All inconsistencies aside, I pretty much loved this show. I would recommend it if you like k-drama thrillers and/or Song Joong Ki. :D

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Intense but also comedic

This had the perfect balance. It was an intense story of revenge and some gruesome things happened. Without the added comedy it would have been too much.

Song Joong Ki played the part perfectly. I have only ever seen him in The Arthdal Chronicles so to see him in a modern role was completely different. He is a great actor. Although he really only looked cold on the outside, this role demanded many different emotions from him. I especially loved the episode where he had to pretend to be gay to stop an investment from happening. That was just hilarious.

Jeon Yeo Been was fantastic. She was great in A Time Called You but I think this role was far superior. I loved how free she was to speak her mind and dance around and even skip.

Let me say this Taecyeon is an amazing actor. We all know he’s a nice guy but he used none of his real personality for this role. He was either goofy or a monster. This was the first time seeing him act and I plan to watch more. I need to wash this monster character from my mind.

I was super sad and cried for Kwak Dong Yeon. When he asked Vincenzo if he did good, I lost it. This is the second time I’ve seen him die: Vincenzo and Love in the Moonlight.

This was a great series and I rated it 10 but I just don’t think I could watch it again.

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I liked it (yes, past tense)

I watched this for Taecyeon. I already knew that he is gonna be the main villain because I saw an article about his role before it got edited. And I'll have to be honest, I really looked forward to it after knowing what the story is about, and seeing that the writer was the one who also wrote Chief Kim (which is one of my favorite dramas) I had high hopes for it, high enough for me to open up naver every morning to check for news about the drama. And honestly? I liked it... at first.

The first few episodes were pretty good. I enjoyed the comedic scenes, and the story build up was pretty nice too. The ending of episode 4? I wasn't surprised about the reveal of him being the villain, but I was pretty surprised at the timing. Revealing the big bad in episode 4? Well, I guess... It's not a complaint though, because seeing Taecyeon's duality, playing innocent as Jang Junwoo but showing his true deadly colors as Jang Hanseok was creepy and cool at the same time. I'm not gonna lie, when I watched the drama on going, I kept rewatching the episodes throughout the week, and it was all mostly because of him. At least, that was what I did in the early episodes until the episode where his identity was fully revealed to public. After that, he felt kinda... tamed. Sure, Jang Hanseok was ordering people to do the dirty work for him as he always did. But I felt that was all he did in the later episodes, and it just felt so... boring. And I understand it was probably because of his public image. But at the same time I can't help but think about other villains that still did the killing themselves. Around this time, I don't rewatch, and honestly, my motivation to continue the drama decreased.

Next, the Jang brothers. I absolutely love both of their characters. When I heard Dongyeon is gonna be in Vincenzo and saw that his character's name have the same surname as Taecyeon's character, I couldn't help getting my hopes up for a supervillain duo brothers. And of course that didn't go well as their backstory gets revealed one by one. Though, I still have quite a lot of questions left about them that didn't get unanswered. It was a bit disappointing that there wasn't any more backstory on them, but I understand. This is the same complaint I have with Chief Kim, where I also have a lot of questions about Seo Yul and how his character became like that. But compared to Seo Yul who is still questionable and vague, I think Jang brothers had quite a lot of their story told, at least for a drama that's titled for the main character. Though I guess as a person who's an overthinker and imaginative, I appreciate them leaving some blank spaces for me to fill in with my own story and narrative.

I guess this part is my biggest complaint and question that I will never unerstand no matter how many times anyone tries to justify it. I STILL don't understand how Chayoung is so easy to side with Vincenzo. Like... When I think about it, it just doesn't make sense. Was it because Vincenzo was close to her dad? Because if I try to look into everything else, Junwoo was the only answer. She knew Junwoo longer than she knew Vincenzo. Especially at the part where Cenzo told Chayoung that Junwoo was the main villain, Hanseok. I still don't understand how she just believes him over her loyal friend who worked for her before. Was it because he's a mafia and he can easily get any information on anyone if he wants? I can't understand at all. There really wasn't a scene where Chayoung was questioning it or defend Junwoo. Come to think of it, I felt like she ALWAYS sided with Vincenzo and never for her intern. Was it because Junwoo was still working at Wusang? I don't know, honestly. Thinking of how their relationship developed made my head hurt more. Good for them ig.

Oh, and I also felt like 20 episodes were too much. Since it's from the same writer, I can't help compare it to Chief Kim. For me, Chief Kim felt perfect with 20 episodes, but for Vincenzo which I think the story felt off for me around episode 12, it felt dragged on for so long. Honestly, I think maybe if they had 16 episodes it would be much better, or at least slightly better.

But, through all my complaints and questions, I do have one compliment.... I think the OSTs are very good. Well, the ones with vocals are good, but I honestly prefer the just instrumental ones. They're really cool. But other than that, in conclusion, the OSTs are pretty good, the casts is also pretty good, I think that the story is very good in the first few episodes, up until around episode 12? where it just went.... wrong. I honestly thought it had the potential to be one of my favorite dramas that I would be able to rewatch, but I was wrong. After it ended, I tried to rewatch it at least a few weeks or months later, but I couldn't, I guess after knowing how the story developed and ended, it put me in a bad mood.

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A fun drama with one flaw I had to overlook to rate it this high

(Spoilers regarding one character in Ep 8 specifically)

I went and watched it! It was as grand and ridiculous as I thought it would be: Amazing cinematography, epic music, great atmosphere, excellent acting, fun villains, a plot that is always moving forward in interesting ways, convenient solutions that know they're convenient, slow-mo shots that go on too long on purpose, constant murders, a badass pigeon, a FL that doesn't exist to be a love interest, and a cool Italian-speaking ML that is always one step ahead. It was an incredibly fun and bloody drama that heavily leaned into Mafia stereotypes that had jokes that made me lose my mind laughing. What's not to love?

Well, there's one thing.

Regarding Representation: Okay. The elephant in the room. The representation (Ep 8). Hwang Min Sung, CEO of Shinkwang Bank, is Gay. He has physically abused his exes in the past but wasn't punished because they were afraid of being outed. His character is very over-the-top but I had no problem with them leaning into that. It's the style of the show and all the characters are oddballs, villains and protagonists alike. That wasn't what I found problematic.

What I Did find problematic was Vincenzo's behavior. He has to pretend to be interested in Min Sung and reacts Very negatively to the prospect. The very idea of pretending to be interested in a man makes him shudder. And he freaks out multiple times while going on dates with him. He is not called out for this nor is it addressed in any way.

They did that for comedic purposes, which really upset me. That, and it doesn't even fit with the way his character normally is. Unless it's something that offends his "Italian sensibilities," he doesn't really care and will pretend and do whatever it takes. This tells us, the audience, that the writers really wanted to include this joke about his disgust/horror at pretending to be Gay.

In summary, we got a Gay SML here. But, we were treated to some problematic behavior on the part of our ML in regards to that SML. I'm disappointed. Not to mention, the jokes about any male affection continued from then on.

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