Vincenzo

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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~Loved the first half of the show, it dragged on in the second half only to gain amazing pace towards the third half
~Stellar acting by the four main leads but I was rather disappointed with the over-the-top unrealistic and random characterization of the Guemga Plaza residents. It wasn’t my kind of humor after a few episodes to be exact. Most of the latter was just fillers for the second half.
~The lead actors were just too good for the mediocre scripting and the writing went from dark comedy to illogical & absurd especially given how the show had a strong forte in villains.
~The depiction of the gay character and slight homophobia also left a bad taste in my mouth for a show as big as Vincenzo
~All in all, Hong Cha Young is now one of my favorite kickass female heroines in kdramaland, Chachenzo -my favorite crime law pairing and Han Seok one of the craziest villains I have encountered.
~Props to the high quality production and use of CGI though
~I liked how the ending showed that Vincenzo will always be an anti-hero at the end of the day

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I'm the mafia

Where do I start? Again, Vincenzo is one of those dramas that had so much high expectations I was afraid I wasn't going to like it. But, as many times before, I, once again, was wrong.

Starting off with a strong and catching opening scene, we are quickly introduced into Vincenzo's character and personality. The casting team did a really good job at giving Joong Ki the role of Vincenzo cause I think no one could've pulled it off better than him, the character suited him so well I was impressed. He has this charisma that makes you fall in love immediately with him. I really love that Vincenzo has his own principles and ideologies and he lives by those rules no matter what. He has a strong will of justice (eventhough he still denies it in the end, but his actions proved otherwise) but likes to do it by his own rules. He truly cares for the people close to him and will do anything to protect them like family.

Cha Young, another great character, and one of the ones that has the biggest development throughout the drama. She starts as a corrupt and shameless lawyer and changes completely when her turning point hits her life. That moment when she decides to take revange and seeks for Vincenzo's help, that's when her real development as a lawyer and as a person starts. I really like that she brings corckiness to the series and has those funny moments to soothen the tense drama.

Eventhough romance is clearly not the main plot here, I appreciate a little bit of it throught the drama. Vincenzo and Cha Young really complemented each other, and both actors did a really good job. The chemistry slowly grows throughout the episodes and you can feel how both of them start to fall in love. Again, this is not the main plot at all but I really liked their scenes, it felt like a little break from all the action.

Great construction of characters, speacially the "villans". I can't streach enough how much I hated Han Seok and Myung Hee. They made my blood boil, and I think that's what make them good villans. They both have motives to be the way they were and I'm really happy with their endings... cause they totally deserve it. Vincenzo finnaly had his revange.

One of the most endiring things about this drama is the family Vincenzo finds at Plaza Geumga. I always love a good group of people that come together to fight a greater evil. You can see how Vincenzo slowly starts to get attatched to these people and how he would do anything in his power to protect them. I really loved their dynamics and how their relationship starts to grow as the episodes went by.

Han Seo... oh my god that character. The way my heart teared apart every time Han Seok treated him like shit. I really loved how, at the end, he stood by himself and decided to do everything in his power to rule Babel legally. Also I'm so happy with the realtionship he formed with Vincenzo, he found a person who he could call brother withouth feeling guilty or humiliated. And that's why his death pained me the most. He didn't deserve it.

This drama has so much plot lines and it's so well articulated that I can't write about everything. I think the writers did a really great job at developing every single one of the plots till the end. I don't really think there was any plot line left unfinished in the end. Also, the way the subplots thread with each other, amazing. Script on point, visual effects too. I'm pretty shook to say the least with the CGI, and it shows how much budget this drama had.

As a conclusion, I really want to say that Vincenzo exceeded my expectations. I'm not really into mafia/politic/corruption dramas, but this one blowed my mind completely. The mafia thing is just one of the layers. And the story is so well structured and developed that you get completely inmersed into the story.

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I LOVED the villain more than anyone else

Hooked since the first episode. I already knew who the villain was before starting this drama (wish I didn't), but it was such a good twist.

Starting with the lead this drama is named after, Vincenzo: I love anti-hero leads, and Vincenzo is a vigilante, who classifies as an anti-hero lead, but I didn't love him half as much as I loved the villain. Vincenzo gave me the same vibes as the ML from Lawless Lawyers, but he was much more... elegant and lawless, but also kind of boring. Though he is technically not a 'hero', I thought I'd like him more than the SML, but I was wrong. I don't speak or understand Italian, I've watched few Italian dramas, and I think Song Joong Ki did an amazing job with the Italian. He really pulled off the whole Italian Mafia background storyline.

Hong Cha Young is now one of my favourite FL's in a K/Cdrama. She was a strong FL, who also pulled off being adorable, without being in the least bit annoying. It's hard finding a FL in a Kdrama, and especially Cdramas, that can pull off even one, not to mention both, without being annoying. I loved how crazy she was, not the revenge aspect, but her "acting", bad sense of direction and random skipping, singing and dancing. One of my favourite things was her friendship with Jang Jun Woo, wish they were closer at the start.

Jang Jun Woo was my FAVOURITE character in this drama, who STOLE the ENTIRE show. I also loved Ok Taec Yeon's American accent whenever he spoke English and sometimes even in his Korean. Knowing he was the bad guy prior to the reveal, and actually seeing it, was so much better then I expected. I loved him as an Cha Young's intern/only friend. Their friendship was adorable and hilarious. Ok Taec Yeon did such an amazing job portraying such different personalities, his eyes really showed the psychopath in Jun Woo. I know he's a psychopath, but it seemed like he was also bipolar. His relationship with Cha Young was so different to that with his own brother. He also seemed to enjoy being shouted at and essentially being harassed by his 'boss' and especially Cha Young. But, he will also kill you or bite off your ear if you shout at him or mock him. His reveal to his 'bosses' was really well executed, we actually got to see him flip the switch from a 'stuttering' intern who doesn't mind being ordered about, and the psychotic BOSS who will kill you, preferrably with a hockey stick, if you try to order him about:
"Nothing's a problem for me as long as I don't feel like shit".
I LOVED everything about him. He was such a GOOD, bad guy. He is why I rated this drama so high, because he was a 10/10.

This was my first drama with any of these three actors, and I LOVED them all, but mostly Ok Taec Yeon .

This drama got boring after around 15 episodes. I wanted Jun Woo's identity to be revealed to the other leads much later in the drama than when it was. It was also really anticlimactic. I was only able to finish this drama off for him, and I was rooting for him. His scenes were the most interesting, especially after the reveal.

Sadly, as expected, even a psychotic genius can't outsmart a mafia anti-hero ML.

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