Vincenzo (2021)

This is Dark Comedy guys!

The series description itself says this is “dark comedy”
Seeing most of the reviews saying the drama is overrated and it lacks the point, telling 10 rated comments didnt make sense...
Well I wanted to clear this out by pointing some of the key points people saying are “lacking”

“This drama is not fully crime concentrated.”

Well the screen writer of this drama is famous for his dark comedy scripts and Vincenzo itself is one of them. If you guys watch this drama expecting only crime, well I say... You might get disappointed.
Each episodes have its own essence of either crime or comedy.
This drama, contains standard comedy with a better crime theme. In the end, its however about the entertainment. With prior said, if you are into comedy, well you will be thrilled by the crime action scenes.

“About geumga plaza tenants”

I read many comments telling that the tenants scenes are just lagging and they dont make it up to the point.
Guys, the main theme is concentrated in the geumga plaza. So how could they avoid tenants?
And in my opinion, the cast did well potraying each characters beautifully.

“Vincenzo is not being overrated”

The cast and crew did an amazing job with this series. The plot,visuals, characters,osts are just “chef's kiss.” Just because it's a mix of dark-com, it doesnt make the drama any less thriller.

“The drama isn't romance biased”

Ofcourse it contains romance scenes but not any fluffy or lengthy.
Ms. Hong and Vincenzo are perfect couples. Their romance is mainly off screen. The story is showing only slightest peeks of their relationship.

If you're expecting more romance scenes from this drama, you may just stop now or might get disappointed in the end.


THIS IS A DRAMA! “DRAMA”
That being said, if you look for perfect logic, then why calling it drama?
Drama is all about dramatic plots and twists... And vincenzo, adds to it.

If you're ok with a drama being less logical,dramatic, thriller x comedy, less romantic...
Then this is recommended for you :')

Leia Mais

All Star Cast, Amazing Acting, Compelling story, some inconsistencies

8/10 is my rating. This is a 2021 South Korean Action and Crime drama with 20, approximately 80 minute episodes.

Park Joo-hyung (Song Joong-ki) grew up in Italy. At eight years old he was adopted and harbors resentment towards his Korean mother who he feels abandoned him. He later becomes part of the Italian mafia and is such an asset the head, Don Fabio, adopts him. As a member of the Cassano family Joo-hyung is renamed Vincenzo Cassano. He becomes a lawyer and utilizes his skill as he works as a representative for his adopted father in mafia dealings. When the father dies, the biological son attempt to kill Vincenzo and, after taking revenge, Vencenzo flees the country back to South Korea.

In Seoul, Vincenzo goes to the the Geumga Plaza which is a site where he helped a Chinese tycoon hide 1.5 tons of gold and install tenants to disguise the real intention of the building.
The Chinese tycooln is dead, and ownership of the gold now falls to the Cassano family, and Vincenzo plans to recover the gold for himself. Of course, the building has been taken over by a South Korean crime organization in the form of a pharmaceudical company, the Babel group. The Babel group has been strong arming the tenants so Vincenzo decides to team up with one of the tenants, a lawyer, to take down the Babel group. The lawyers daughter, Hong Cha-young (Jeno Yeo-been) was originally represting Babel but after her father is murdered by them, joins up with Vincenzo to exact revenge on the Babel Group. Sparks had originally flown between the two but as they unite toward a common purpose those strong feelings evolve to something more.

Overall, I liked this series a lot. All of the actors, and you had a pretty much all star cast with a few exceptions, did an amazing job acting out their characters. The storyline was exciting and the villians were incredibaly villanous. The whole "it takes a villian to catch a villian" axiom was true throughout the series. The chemistry between the two leads was not immediate, which made sense to me because they did not start out liking each other but developed a deep friendship through working to take down a common enemy.

*Spoilers The pros were the incredible acting, great locations and filming, and appropriate but not too invasive musical scores. Who doesn't love Song Joon-ki in action, he is incredibly handsome and charasmatic. The sense of community with the building tenants was both refreshing and engaging. I loved that Cha-young was a tough, no nonsense lawyer with a bit of a dark streak. It made her the perfect pairing for Vincenzo because she did not have an issue, if justice would not be served, with going outside of the law. I loved that there was gold hidden in the building and how disturbed Vincenzo would get whenever someone would pursue his gold. He reminded me, in those cases, of a Leprechaun guarding his gold. One of the most comedic scenes was when he had to pretend to be gay to lure in a bank that was willing to work with Babel. Whether you are gay trying to be heterosexual or heteresexual tying to be gay if you are engaging the sexuality that does not fit - it is cringy. I was laughing, so hard during that part. The funny thing, was he seemed to turn all the guys around him gay. The men seemed to love him as much as the women did. It was like everyone's dark fantasy, apprently, to be in the mob. So there were bromances galore.

The cons were the times that Vincenzo failed to stay true to character. What it seemed, was he was a South Korean child, adopted into the Italian culture but was old enough to remember the language and most of the culture of his original country. His anger at his mother for "abandoning" him, and the death of his foster parents through criminal activity, led him to embrace the dark side for revenge. I got that. Made sense. But, it showed, in so many ways that he was very humane and caring and had conscience and could love and all that - not even a sociopath because he wasn't simply "blending in" his feelings appeared genuine and he underwent an evolution through meeting and falling in love with Cha-young, being mentored and befriended by her father, and just forming so many friendships in South Korea. But then, his mother, who he was on the precipice of a true reunion with, is murdered and it is like it flipped a switch. He backtracked on all the progress he made and the brutal element fully came back in him. The fact that he had flashbacks and nightmares of past incidents clearly showed that he had remorse to that point. But then it was like he became a slightly different person after his mother's death. I thought the way he killed the Babel villians was just a bridge too far. I cannot reconcile burning someone to death with someone who is a good person. Although the chairman was evil and had done horrible things, drilling someone to death is just the next level of brutality. Becoming as evil as the evil you are punishing does not make you a good person. I was disappointed when he blew up Cha-young's father's killer. He broke his word in my opinion. hHe told him once he did this thing the debt was fulfilled and he could go free. It was dishonest and it seemed even Cha-young felt he had gone too far. But she never said that although her response to the news seemed as if it bothered her.
When he killed the female lawyer he broke his morale code which was no women and children. She even said you are going to do this to a woman and he said, basically, you are not a woman, you are a monster. Still, burning her alive was the next level up brutality. It took him from a batman like, superhero justice seeker, to just a murderer little better than the people he was "punishing". I also could not buy that the law enforcement friends in his circle were so okay with him brutally murdering those people. They helped him get away with it and even shook hands with and hugged him when he had the blood on him. It was a bit like "Dexter" in that dark anti hero type persona but I am just not a fan of that level of "eye for an eye" because his treatment of them was even more brutal than the way they treated their victims.

The ending also fell short for me. Perhaps they are setting it up for another season. I did not like the very "Pirates of the Caribbean" end where he can only come back when on a diplomatic mission (diplomatic immunity). It was over obvious in the postcards he sent that he wanted her to come find him - yet she didn't. To me it seemed as though her emotions toward him took a turn. I did not have the sense she would be willing to leave South Korea and go join him on an island off the coast of Malta. I had no care for his Italian family. We never got to know enough of that piece to care that he had reunited and was now ruling that family. And, we were reminded of his brutality when he mentioned the revenge he took on a rival family and that their remains were fertilizing his grapes. They confessed and kissed but then parted ways with a somewhat sad and whistful look in both of their eyes.

His behavior, as other reviewers have pointed out, was not even consistent with what is often the case in organized crime. I knew a situation like that once - one of my best friends in high school let's just say her father was a retired person in a very well known organized criminal entity. In those situations, usually the lawyer is very valuable and also high up in the crime organization. They do not have those folks act as "hit persons" they are too valuable to the organization. And they typically have done their dues and don't want to get their hands dirty that way. Not that they have suddenly grown a conscience, but they just don't do the dirty work anymore. So that did not make sense. He was a lawyer and the second in command - the family would typically not risk such an individual by involving them so intimately. Even if he, himself, wanted to be involved, unless there was a compelling reason he would usually be ordered by "the boss" not to.

That being said - I would still recommend it and might even rewatch it at some point. It is unique and so well acted that the flaws are not a complete deterrant. Others really liked it and did not consider these things flaws. Cha-young had just enough darkness in her to accept a lot of what he did. It was very "Game of Thrones" in the darker elements and how most of the characters were not completely good or completely evil but various mixes thereof. And how you were rooting for anti heroes. The "Queen of Dragons" in Game of Thrones reminded me of Vincenzo in the way their characters evolved and the sudden switch down a much darker path. But I wasn't a fan of how that ended either. I like redemption and character growth. This followed the opposite trajectory. If there were a second season I might watch it. I am extremely disappointed in the brutality of the murders so I can't think of a way back from that but would be interested to see where their relationship evolved.

Leia Mais

Contain violence, be smart for watching,, only suitable for some people, not too bad

be smart in watching,, containing scenes of violence, or partial justice,,
glorifies violence,, remember!! this all just a drama

violence reciprocate with violence




#story

honestly, I think this drama is quite boring and feels very slow until episode 11 also feels very slow to me,,its better ep 12-13, but slow again until ep 18 its getting better again, although there is a little comedy that is quite entertaining, but at first I felt too pushy comedy

the development of the story feels very absurd ,, Geumga tenant members who from nothing become good fighter or having a secret talent
,,,national intelligence assisting crime and escape,,,,the sudden relationship between the cast,,,


#plot

they explain how some of the events happened using flashback,, and of course it is better than there is not explained at all, which makes the incident unclear

the drawback is that they doesn't explain the entire flashback that is displayed and the timing is not clear when the flashback occurs (for reason read ep 17 below(contain spoiler) )


#cast

about the past of the cast is not too clear ,, Vincenzo ,, Jang Han Seok? how can he be so psychopath

1. and it seems that Vincenzo dentity is not completely explained,, they said that he is adopted and vincenzo say that he took revenge on the robber who killed his adoptive parents by torturing him for 2 years,, so mafia boss fabio not her adoptive father? And how could he join the mafia members?,,, and flashback about him shooting someone and there is a kid in the car ,who is it?


2. At first I felt the FL acting was a little too much, and then I persuaded myself that the cast characters should be like that, and if you look at that side, the acting not bad

3. Jang han seok,, At first I did feel something strange with him, but when found out that he was the real boss of Babel,, I find it so absurd to make such a twist,,, but his acting proves that she fits the role perfectly



###Question###

1. when they make a traps to destroying janghanseok? when lawyer hong picked up the phone from Vincenzo who told him the identity of BABO (BABELBOS)? before meeting jangjoongwoo or after meeting?


2. Ep 17,,when did AN agents know about the whereas of the guillotine file?from the flashback does not match with what is said by Vincenzo,,, because when the director of the intelligence agency joined the babel tower meeting, vincenzo was still in the secret chamber,,

and lawyer hong, you shouldn't know that the secret chamber belongs to wangshaolin(ep12) or it is where the guillotine file is located,because she still concludes "means the file is back to korea",,,, and mr nam and lawyer hong just found out that the file was in vincenzo's hands when they were betrayed by prosecutor jung


3. Why is there a blue rope on Inazagi's leg?

Leia Mais

Mind-boggling but dries down towards the end

Story:
Well, I watched this because many people recommended this to me. The first few episodes were just mind-boggling and had me tied to my seat as the hero and the villain in the story made some super crazy moves. The constant back-and-forth strategies were definitely enticing. However, this seemed to die down as the spotlight shifted to the plaza members. I somehow was not able to connect to their characters at all! Towards the end, the villain just dries down. This disheartened me; hence, I took a lot of time to complete this show. Most often I was not interested in the plaza characters' forceful comedy and usually skipped those scenes.

Positives:
What pushed me to watch this was that this show's acting and visuals were amazing. I'll say its worth a watch because its great to see a new perspective in the hero's thinking methods. The Italian spice in this show was brilliant and catchy. And yes do not expect that lovey-dovey romance. Jeon Yeo's energetic and bubbly personality always cracked me up xD

Inshort:
If you're looking for something lawyers based, thrilling, crime and at the same time light-hearted some times this is it. The production and the fashion statements made are wonderful.
If not the whole thing I'd say Episodes from 1-10 and 14,15 are worth watching!
Don't think much, personally, I enjoyed this as this show left me with a sassy confident attitude for a few days xD

Leia Mais

Good but not great

While I wouldn't consider it a masterpiece, it was entertaining,
the obvious weak links were:
- the people of the plaza (one could skip all their scenes and not miss a thing)
- The over the top acting and humor, I didn't find it funny but ridiculous most of the time, even though I love comedies.
- The writing of the script felt like they started with the wanted result and then stumbled their way writing the reason or the process (why did vincenzo bother with babel? )
- Storylines that went nowhere or weren't needed. (The gold was at the end of the day just a catalyze for Vincenzo to be there when shit happens and they didn't bother giving that aubplot any substance, but we had to sit through countless scenes of them discussing or looking for that damn gold)
- Everyone but the ML is dumb and can't think for themselves, including the antagonists

For those interested in watching, the 1st 4 episodes are boring, so you should get past those before deciding if it's worth watching. The middle is really interesting and full of twists, SJK acting is on point.

Leia Mais

A good show, but could be shorter and with less comedy

Vincenzo is definitely one of my favorite shows of the year. The main story is compelling and the acting is great. But I’m not the biggest fan of the comedic part of the show. I feel like those moments break the momentum too much. I feel like the show would have been even better with less episodes, probably something around 16. Also, the fact that the show was heavily spoiled to me might have lessened the overall effect. It took me months to finish it because of that.

It’s inevitable for me to compare Vincenzo with The Devil Judge, which was released after but I watched first. Both shows focus on revenge, have charismatic protagonists that are self proclaimed villains, punish people via “the law”, and there’s not much romance. Yet, I’d say both shows are very different. I enjoyed The Devil Judge more, since it’s shorter and with no comedy. But I probably would say Vincenzo Cassano is the best character of the year.

The cast was overall fantastic. All the main cast is outstanding, specially Taecyeon, Joong Ki and Yeo Jin. But, in my opinion, the best was Kwak Dong Yeon. Han Seo was probably the death that got to me the most and I loved all his scenes. I’m glad he was the key to defeat his brother in the end.

The Plaza gang was probably the weakest point in my opinion. I perceive them as a subplot to slow down the main story. I didn’t care about them until they finally started to be more useful by helping Vincenzo and Cha Young directly. The entire gold storyline was boring, too long and didn’t even have a good ending. Obviously, without the gold vault there would be no Vincenzo in Korea or a stablished place to put the Guillotine file. But for a plot that was stablished in the very start of the show, it didn’t go anywhere.

Leia Mais

Heavily scripted drama that will give you a whiplash

I can see why there was so much hype around this k-drama when it was first released. It was quite different to your typical parcel of k-dramas being released and the main leads definitely got the netizens talking. However, watching the show a few months after it finished its run, the rose tinted glasses cannot hide all its rough edges.

On the positive side, the ML is handsome and overflowing with charisma. Whether you believe he is a Mafia consigliere is your decision. The FL was flamboyant and matched well with the ML so the OTP's chemistry was signed and sealed. There were quite a few stylistic moments and quotable quotes just right for memes. Action sequences were generally well executed and impactful. Production value was high. OST more than serviceable with classical music taking a prominent role.

When observing the show from a distance, like war and art, you start to notice a coda that ends with the death of a key character (and those were obviously marked for death). The odd thing is that in most cases, the in-between space was filled with comedy, sometimes slapstick and quite farcical. This swing in mood did give me a bit of whiplash. I don't know if part of the problem stems from the drama being 20 episodes long and each almost 1.5 hours in duration. If it was trimmed down to 16 episodes, it might be tighter.

Most of these comedic sequences were supplied by the occupants of the Plaza. They were a motley crew with hearts of gold. In that sense, I was disappointed that they were largely used as comic relief and had little growth. They reminded me of characters in the movies "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" and "Kung Fu Hustle". A bit derivative, to be honest.

Oh mama mia, the overacting. There were so much overacting. The main villains were racing to see who is more evil and the said support cast amped up their traits to the max, most of them became caricatures. Subtlety was the main casualty and there were more than just gallons of blood on the floor. Ditto the violence. It is over the top and the impact waned over time.

Now we come to the biggest problem for me. There are quite a few plot holes and some illogical story telling. The show started well and we have the lone wolf arriving to help the beleaguered "village". I can accept that Vincenzo is an anti-hero and very grey when it come to the definition of good and evil, it does add spice to the proceedings. However, the longer the show went on, the more problematic the story telling became. There were lots of shouted intentions but mostly just milling around until we hit one of the key event I mentioned before. Scenes like the ML fighting 3 mafia hitmen and was saved by Inzaghi, reward for good deeds? The scene when the ML confronted the Interpol officers, one sequence was shown at the end of one episode and when the next episode starts, a completely different scenario was played which contradicted the earlier scene. The role of the Guillotine file which was supposed to be the ultimate deus ex machina but it sort of works but eventually watered down. The gold plot went rogue, why a bed and does it really ends there? Sometimes the plot twist were clever but a lot of the time you can sense the writer-nim's hand on the steering wheel to make sure the show stay on a given course. Several times during the show, it could have ended "logically" but it just kept going.

Vincenzo is handsome and oozes charisma, the show is enjoyable in parts and it will pull your heartstrings from time to time, the found family trope can be cute and heart warming. There is no question about the chemistry between the OTP (I do wish they devoted more time to them). A grand opera of revenge can be sweet music. However, the inconsistencies will pull you out of immersion. Personally, I find Itaewon Class a superior David vs Goliath drama but nobody ever goes to watch a James Bond movie for empathy and sensitivity.

Leia Mais

A mafia turned good citizen

GOOD main leads.
GOOD plot.
Above-average supporting characters.
An over-drag villain.
A complete disastrous representation of SK law.
A little bit of disappointment in the ending.
Overall a good watch.
A big no for re-watch.

The story begins kinda slowly. But after episode 4 it picks up the pace and makes you believe that our star MC will fight the evil and get his girl for sure. Slowly the plot twists arise and the episodes became more of an action-comedy to me. The execution of Gangster vibes is in check and the cuteness of Jeon Yeo-been makes your heart go throb.
If you like mafia / gangster type revenge plot with rom-com GO for this.

Leia Mais

Vincenzo is quirky and entertaining.

Vincenzo concluded, and the executions of Jang Han Seok and Choi Myung Hee were a gore-fest. Vincenzo is one of the quirkiest, most entertaining K-dramas, and it might be the best K-drama of 2021. I thought that it was an over-the-top silly slapstick/crime/suspense drama in the beginning, but I kept watching it every week.

Protagonists: Song Joong Ki shined in the role of Vincenzo, and he carried the show on his shoulders. This is his best acting role to-date. His special skills got the job done, while he regained his humanity. Jeon Yeo Bin was overacting as Hong Cha Young, who acted like a spoilt princess most of the time. Her supermodel catwalk strut and her facial mannerisms were very annoying. When she was serious, she radiated on screen.

Antagonists: Ok Taecyeon stepped outside the box, and chose a role that I never envisioned. Jang Han Seok was psychotic, bipolar, evil, schizophrenic and despotic. Kim Yeo Jin as Choi Myung Hee was the most irritating character in the drama. Her styling was off. She looked like a frowzy fashionista with dirty hair and expensive fashion wear. It looked like Kim never washed and combed her hair for twenty episodes.

Chump: Kwak Dong Yeon is memorable as the cowardly weak brother, Jang Han Seo, who developed a spine, and helped Vincenzo take down Jang Han Seok.

SPOILER ALERT
I found the opening segment of the final episode was very irritating. Master Executioner Vincenzo froze while Jang Han-Seok and Jang Han-Seo were having a showdown. This was so uncharacteristic in Vincenzo. I would have choreographed a better scene, with Vincenzo and Jang Han-Seo taking down madman Jang Han-Seok. Even if Jang Han-Seo was weak, he was still redeemable. As usual, the K-drama time jump wrapped up the drama. If the production team took off a week to fine tune the last four episodes, they surely raised the bar on the gore.

SPOILER ALERT
A Season 2 is probable, considering the gold bars are sitting in Hong Cha Young's shed. They could bring back Jang Han Seo, the good brother. I do not think that they acknowledged that he had died. He could be lying in a coma in a hospital, and reawaken in Season 2. The gold has to be redistributed among the Geumga Plaza residents and the lawyers. It can't sit in Cha Young's shed forever. They could build a better Geumga Plaza/residence/retailer/office building, and Han Seo could be the CEO. Wishful thinking!

Leia Mais

Disappointed Much

Okay there have been a few reviews that match mine so I feel like I’m in good company lol. Let me start by saying I love love love SJK and the main actors weren’t bad actors (although my mate JYB did let me down in her portrayal of her character - however I don’t know that I can wholly blame her or the writer’s depiction of her character) overall I feel like the writer let this one down. The fact that there was supposed to be romance (limited and odd) within the action drama did not end well on this score and the whole story left a lot to be desired.
The support actors did their best to be who they were supposed to be but even these guys were oddballs, particularly the baddies - just oddballs.
The one thing I must say (I know it’s been said before but I completely agree with them) OTY - OMG his portrayal of the villainous evil guy but Mr Nice guy was superb and amazing. The 2 male leads had me throughout this one and it took me a while to get through it because the writing was so poor, I had to drop and then pick i tup several times over after a break of some time between. I’m usually a drama junkie and can get through a drama within 3 or 4 days if it’s gripping and compelling. This one - sorry to say took me over a month to get through and this is the greatest disappointment and letdown because of my admiration and love for the 2 male leads.
Not sure if I’ll ever fully recover to be honest as my love for both these guys has been scarred from bad writing and possibly directing. I’ll definitely be hesitating the next time I have to choose a drama with my favourites in them. Although I’ll probably end up watching them anyway purely because they’re NOT BAD ACTORS.
Will I ever REWATCH this one - Never again!!!! 절대!!!! NEVER

Leia Mais