Vincenzo (2021)

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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Action With Humor

I honestly loved this show and don't understand the bashing. In my opinion, it was a fun show to watch. The first 4 episodes were a bit boring but it set the story and from there it became a delight. I liked that the tenants got screen time so you can get attached to the characters and understand the family symblism behind Vincenzo. I loved particularly, the humor remained throughout the show so it wasn't super macho serious and I liked the soild friendship with Cha-Young instead of a bunch of love scenes. Han-Seo's scene broke my heart. Poor guy just wanted to be loved and truly was repenting. Hes goofy but the watch scene proved hes more intelligent than people think.

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FINALLY! A DRAMA WORTH TO WATCH A MILLION TIMES!!!

This is what you called MASTERPIECE. Everything is perfect. Cast, Plot, Characters, OST's, Side Characters, everything is perfect! Definitely my favorite kdrama now out of all the kdrama's I've watched before, this really stands out seriously. Some says it's boring, eh? I wonder what's their favorite kdrama though. LOL. It has a lot of humor and wisdoms you can really enjoy and reflect to. It's great because you can really learn a lot of important things here especially, the reality of villains, the true story of politicians and media. I gained a lot from this, especially the one that's about regrets and how the two leads got to learned from it. I swear this is so funny, not just drama, not just an action or violence, this is a whole package, definitely not boring. I am actually kindof picky when it comes to a story or plot of a movie or drama's because I get so bored when it's just about romance or slice of life genre. That's why I got to love this because it covers many different kinds of genres like action, comedy, drama, violence, with a touch of a little bit romance. This is also why I love the characters, especially the female lead character,she's not the kind of toxic female characters who gets so boring and iritating that always want to change the male lead characters the ways they want to. However, the case of Hong Chayoung, she never change Vincenzo but she supported him in everything even though there are times that she thinks it's too much, she never judge him or his job or everything about him. They have completely different personalities, they're like a yin yang, they fit for each other. The mischievousness of Hong Chayoung and the seriousness of Vincenzo. There's so much more in this drama so much more characters you can really enjoy and have a good laugh. Highly recommended. I am hoping for season 2, the ending is a cliff hanger which makes it more interesting and got the viewers curious. All in all, perfection. Masterpiece.

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A Unique Watching Experience

I started watching "Vincenzo" when only 6 episodes were out, and I believe the weekly wait for new content helped raise my opinion of this drama. The build-up towards a new episode grew my excitement, and I was fully engaged in the story.

"Vincenzo" started out strong - the vineyard scene and the accompanying classical music (which is still my favourite one from the whole OST) gave a good taste of what the series is going to be like - dramatic, pompous, shocking, humorous and dark. The production was truly high-quality - the camera work, the lighting, the cinematography, the sets - everything combined made "Vincenzo" seem refined and revolutionary.

Of course, the 180 change happened rather quickly, but unlike many other viewers, I loved it. The Geumga Plaza tenants were a charming cast of characters, and our main hero got duality - Vincenzo was very good at winning and intimidating others, but he was also awkward and a fish out of water in Korea. However, the heart of the drama for me was the FL Cha Young. Her manners, the way she talked and walked, how loud she was - we rarely see such women on screen. She was truly powerful and dynamic, and it's a damn shame that the show-runners decided to abandon her development when they started focusing on Han Seo's story. There was a place for both of them.

The story was well-developed, too. I never saw the twists coming, but they were amazing and thought-out, and I loved seeing our "heroes" triumph over the villains time and time again - it made sense because they were both competent and also it was plain entertaining. Like, yes, finally, I get to enjoy some sort of satisfaction every episode. Sadly, after the one-week hiatus, it seemed like a dreadful rewrite happened.

Let's get the worst one out of the way: Cha Young was basically benched for the last 4 episodes, and especially during the finale. This was her time to shine! She spent 16 episodes letting Vincenzo plan and execute everything! Her contribution to the final fight was absolutely zero, Han Seo did more in his condition :).

Episode 20 felt really out of touch with the rest of the story. Compared to the wonderful sequence of events in episodes 9-12 (all of them I rated 10/10) this was a big ~meeeh. Vincenzo left, as expected, for Malta. But the fact that he has no intentions of returning, even though he wanted to get the gold and retire (neither of these plot points was followed through), and instead he chooses to become the new Italian boss of the Cassano family??? I am convinced this was added last minute because angst is a requirement for a "sensible" ending. You had A PIGEON save the hero from the mafia, I think you can have him secretly fly back to Korea on a Bye-Bye Balloon.

Anyway, 9.5 is for the good memories, emotions and everything else I got in 19 episodes of this show. Oh, and for all the deaths of villains in the finale :))) I enjoyed watching them immensely.

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BEST!!!

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

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Pleasantly Surprised

After getting hooked with Song Joong-ki's filmography, only recently I didn't know what to expect with this drama series. After watching the trailer, I thought it would be the typical hard-core mafia themed series. The comedy variation in the plot was a pleasant surprise. The comedic scene and dialogue are pulled-off unintentionally (it seemed), giving it a nice twist. I personally like court scenes and this drama gave me a different appeal with the unconventional approach in presenting the case and procedure. Song Joong-ki's character, appearance, versatility (italian language) -- makes him more appealing in this drama...as he is already after watching most of his drama and movies. I like how he does his 'fight' scenes and yet comes out still looking daper. The casting for the leading lady of Joong-ki is a good choice, they complement each other. I really look forward each week for the new episodes. One of the best season finale I have seen. Air time for each roles (including secondary) were sufficient and did not seem rushed. Although the death of the antagonist was gruesome, it was presented well. The best scenes for me are: the proposal at the museum and the italian exhibition (stairs) -- before they said goodbye.

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masterpiece

wow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Such a fun show

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

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

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It's a masterpiece worth watching!! ^_^

Instead of showing the stereotypical concept of "angel fighting the evil", I love how diligently the writer constructed a grey personality of the main lead (Vincenzo) and also of the rest of the characters to some extend. Looking at the summary I was very reluctant to watch this drama in the beginning but I must say, watching this drama has been worthy of every single moment! The storyline of this drama has been written, directed and presented so meticulously that it I can't simply emphasis in mere words. The casting, visuals, costumes, dialogues and acting were marvelous and very detail oriented and the OST????? THEY HAD THE BEST OST OF ALL TIME!!! The music were just on spot and it resonated so well with the excitement and emotions that you'll just fall in love with all the OST at the end of the day *_*

Honestly speaking, after watching plenty of k-drama, the storyline of this drama felt more inclined towards the concurrent realistic scenario of the world and somewhat a realistic "open end" conclusion as well compared to other dramas. I really enjoyed the strategic counterattacks of each groups (mainly Vincenzo's :P) and the nuanced metaphors and quotes used in their dialogues <3

The comedies would make you burst into laughter every single time, the serious and action scenes would make your adrenaline go wild and the emotional moments would well your eyes :') The story advances wildly from the beginning till the 15th episode and it slows down a little due to excessive plots and twists towards the end but all in all, I am absolutely delighted to watch Vincenzo :) The drama is a complete package and definitely "must-watch" worthy ^_^

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Perfection

While I began watching Vincenzo largely because it was something the men in my family may be more apt to enjoy, I soon became the most fervent of viewers in my household. However, my guys were pretty invested in this too.

Not only is this drama incredibly well acted, the story is captivating as well. The intricacies of Babel vs. the plaza family and the injustices faced by the Babel workers were interesting and the relationship between the leads was just the cherry on top. I like how the writers/producers weren't afraid to delve into some dark and uncomfortable places as they explored where this story took us. Very clever indeed.

I cannot recommend this drama enough. Bravo...so glad I delved into something different.

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