Vincenzo (2021)

DEXTER/GAME OF THRONES MEETS KDRAMA WORLD !!??

This show left me extremely frustrated and ultimately disappointed. A part of me does not understand the massive appeal and praise it is getting let alone the insane ratings on this website. Another part of me knows exactly why it has attracted the audience's attention or why it will be remembered for a long time. When I started this show I could see the vast potential it held, but bit by bit my hopes went down the drain as the season progressed. My analysis stems from personal preferences and conscious/subconscious biases, so I hope you keep that in mind as you read ahead (though I've tried to be as objective as possible). Before I get into with my criticisms let me highlight what I enjoyed about the show.

What Worked???

1) Interesting Characters: The show boasts of a huge cast. Various types of characters from all walks of life have been utilized to push ahead the larger plot. I particularly enjoyed the antagonists of the show. The uniqueness to them, their thought process, weaknesses, character profile and interests made the story worth watching.

2) Stylish Aesthetics: The makers definitely kept in mind all the style requirements of the script. Just like the Bond movies, this series required showcasing luxurious and sharp cinematic geography. Not only did they pay attention to the wardrobe requirements (especially of Song Joong Ki) but also celebrating the narrative spectacle. The makers did a good job of consistently visually enticing while making every facet of the story larger than life, which eventually made the show enjoyable (to some extent).

3) Fascinating Idea: The core concept of Vincezo rests on the idea that “only one shade of evil can sabotage the other shade of evil in the quest for justice”. This notion has been used in many movies or dramas across the world, especially in the context of vigilante justice. But what was interesting was a Kdrama flirting with the world of Italian mafia to execute this idea. Even though the story is primarily based on Seoul and on the nexus between corporate sector, politics, judiciary, criminals and law enforcing officers, it did borrow elements of mafia practices to enrich the story.

4) Quality Acting: As usual, kdramas seldom disappoint in this section. Everyone did an adequate job in portraying their characters. Song Joong Ki was able to skillfully steer the show based on his performance (considering the whole plot revolved around him). Jeon Yeo Bin was refreshing in her portrayal of a quirky yet intelligent lawyer. However as I said, the antagonists of the show were the ones that left a formidable impact on the viewers. Ok Taec Yeon was absolutely stellar as a sassy yet scarily eccentric psychopath (who would’ve thought he is capable to demonstrating such evilness with so much conviction). Kwak Dong Yeon has only been improving with every project he has undertaken, so I have huge hopes for his future. And finally, Kim Yeo Jin was brilliant at making me hate her character’s sheer guts to execute whatever she did in the show.

What did not work???

1) Genre Mix-Match Gone Wrong: Now we all know that kdramas are excellent at mixing various genres and presenting a hard hitting story without losing its essence. However, this was not the case in this show. The dark element of this show was higher than any average mainstream kdrama. Bloodshed and gruesome deaths were a key element of the story. But the constant jump between intense scenes and comic elements diluted this seriousness. Now of course this was a conscious decision to lighten the mood of the show for the audience, but honestly it did more damage to the narration and atmospherics. This cracked the illusion of the world the show was trying so hard to build. And the makers did this throughout the series. This deteriorated my interest in the story and I felt least invested in the fate of the characters. The romantic element was still bearable because it was between two mature adults and was not over done. Their chemistry was natural, believable and sat in tandem with their character growth.

2) Glorification of Vigilante Justice: Picking up arms, practicing violent means, breaking laws and challenging the system is the core element of vigilante justice themed movies/dramas. I am not a hard line critic of this genre however this depends on the shade of darkness the protagonist brings on the screen. If I have to simply put it, Vincezo Cassano is a man no normal person would want to be associated with, no matter what. His character reminded me of Dexter and to some extent the brutality seen in game of thrones (of course not as prevalent as GOT). As a protagonist he shocked me on various levels. Throughout the show I felt troubled to understand what I feel for him. His moral compass was highly questionable to say the least. But in the show the kind of respect and admiration he enjoyed made me uncomfortable. His principles that guided him into taking someone’s life were nothing more than self justification, which were unfortunately validated by people around him. But what was worse was that there was no sense of accountability or repentance seen in his actions once the whole chase ended. Vincezo was never held accountable for his actions whatsoever, which begs the question how is he lesser evil than the antagonists? If the villains portrayed a black spectrum then Vincezo was maybe charcoal coal grey at the risk of turning black. The line that differentiated him from these people was painfully very thin (or nonexistent by ep 20). These factors made me question him as the protagonist of this show and hence I was never able to cheer for him wholeheartedly.


3) Mockery of Logic: The world building in this show was almost juvenile. An entire intelligence organization overlooked a mafia member’s activity in the country especially when he has been very nosy in the business of the so called prominent people of the city. The one guy who was given the responsibility to look into this matter eventually ends up being his biggest fan boy. Furthermore, the chief of such a powerful agency becomes a pawn in his larger plan to bring the bad guys down. The Interpol was easily convinced by him to let him do what he wants because he has a knack of making offers that no one can refuse (pun intended). The justice system is a joke, as they can be easily toyed by Vincezo to get what he wants. There is no outsmarting him and every government organization with the best infrastructure, resources and communication network can be used by him for his goal or undermined by him to get what he wants. This was tad bit too much for me to swallow. I have seen many action movies/dramas where the protagonist has to be presented as a heroic crusader for justice. But the makers have to sell these facts convincingly. After a point everything seemed silly.

All in all Vincezo is memorable for frivolous factors like some punchy dialogues, glamorous wardrobe, visual appeal and beautiful aesthetics. But beyond that the show lost its core essence after first few episodes. It lacked depth and genuine insight into the purpose of their characters and their actions. According to me this is an overrated show which will continue to be popular and recommended to kdrama newbies for years. However it failed to woo me.

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Did I miss something?

Okay, yet another unpopular opinion coming to this drama's reviews.

The Pros: It was a fun ride between episode 3-15. The characters of Geumga Plaza were entertaining to watch as they interacted and grew as people. The humor honestly gave me some good chuckles and, although the humor is one of the more highly contested parts of this show, I honestly found it fine overall. The action was also engaging and the cinematography was simply stunning. But none of this could hold together a show that otherwise completely lacked reason and soul.

The Cons: The first red flag for me was the villain. The “twist” of who the true villain was in the early episodes made me go “why?” and I was never (literally never) able to take him seriously. The cat and mouse game between Babel and Vincenzo was exhaustingly repetitive. After the first couple of major deaths, everyone also seems surprisingly nonchalant about the absolute abnormal amount of dead people and near-death experiences they were constantly encountering. Vincenzo literally shoved someone out of the Geumga Plaza when that was an unthinkable act to do in the first few episodes and no one blinked an eye (Where do these dead bodies go?? Where is the government??? Where are the concerned citizens?????) Perhaps this is my own bias coming through, because I appreciate character driven dramas and I felt like there was an amazing cast of characters to grow. Alas, all the heart in the middle of the series had extinguished by the end to make way for "plot progression."

What really did me in was episode 17. I had rated this show as a 9 until episode 17. Following this episode I quickly dropped my rating to a 6. The episode broke everything for me. Characters were already starting to act out of character, but I was truly appalled when they killed the stuntman with the bomb. The worse part wasn't his death, it was the fact that all those lovable people I had come to adore in the Geumga Plaza had assisted in this crime and the LITERAL KCSI AGENT didn't give two shits that Vincenzo just killed a personal (in an entirely unnecessary and gruesome way nonetheless). What??? My thoughts of the show never recovered from this episode.

I swear, if Vincenzo's cast wasn't star-studded and the cinematography was slightly less beautiful this show would have gone down in Kdrama history as one of the worst. With all the hype, I left this show feeling disappointed and asking myself “did I miss something?”

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Overrated : Plot and Character Inconsistencies with great Cinematography and good OST

I'm always fond of Mafia related stories, shows and movies and to say that I have great expectations for this series is definitely not an understatement. When I watched the trailer of this show, I was blown away with the acting and cinematography until I eventually watched the series and somehow my view of the show albeit slowly changed...

The Pros of the series are definitely the cinematography, acting and OST... The actors / actresses did their best in portraying their characters well.. The soundtracks are also good and I'm definitely loving the songs...

What really fell through for me was the plot and illogicality of the characters.

The story got really really REALLY draggy too.. There were a lot of scenes for me that were unnecessary like you know the feeling that you're just watching some fillers before you get to the main point of the story.. That's exactly what they did with Vincenzo.. For me, the show could have just ended with only 16 episodes or even 12 episodes because each episode has more than an hour of running time... The 20 episodes is just too much..

Aside from the plot, the villain in the story got downplayed... Like really downplayed..
After watching a lot of crime thriller kdramas that have psychopathic killers, Vincenzo has one of the most unique villain in all of the shows that I've watched and I'm sad as well as disappointed that they didn't use the full potential of the character. The villain in the story was described to be cunning as well as a genius with his eccentricity and someone who is SUPPOSED TO BE ON PAR with Vincenzo, yet they made his character underwhelming in a way that if I summed up all the scenes that the villain did, he didn't have any scenes that justified his character because Vincenzo always won and like everything seems to be pretty convenient for the main character etc... The show really favored the hero to the point that it had me questioning a lot about what was even the relevance of the villain being on par with Vincenzo but not even having a chance to shine.. This really frustrated me... If you're going to make a series with a premise like this, it should be balanced... The wasted potential of the villain's character got me facepalming to no end.. Even the main character (Vincenzo) had a lot of out of character moments... **sigh**
The female lead also has a sassy character but the way they introduced her was just so bad and it annoyed me... It felt like she was over reacting too much or trying too hard and it wasn't even funny.. Although, I'm glad that her character had some improvements in the end...

I also find the Geumga Plaza residents to be annoying.. I find some of their scenes to be irrelevant... This would probably the show which I will comment that it has too many side characters that the show definitely does not need.. While the Geumga Plaza residents are a source of comic relief, I find it to be awkward in this show.. Like it doesn't fit the whole Vincenzo thing...

Another thing is that I understand that this show is a slap stick comedy with a sprinkle of mafia.. but seriously though, the mafia thing here is just mehhh... Not even a MAFIA genre in all honesty.... They sugarcoated the mafia tag here and if you're looking for a serious show.. then this would be not your taste.. The comedy, action and seriousness of this show is not balanced well... Too much comedy in a show that started off in a serious and bad ass note...

And also, an important thing that we must also consider in the series is the fact that there were some scenes (the homophobia and misinterpretation of a gay character) that happened in the show that left a bad taste to the LGBT+ community. The fact that this issues weren't even addressed well disappointed me. In our society today where media is a powerful outlet, viewers can be easily influenced by what they see or hear and I find it to be disappointing that yes this show is popular however, it failed to address or give respect or even importance to the LGBT+ community.

There were a lot of questions that weren't even answered well.. I've always been curious of the past of the main character and although they used flashbacks for Vincenzo's past but it's technically not enough.. It would have been better if there was an episode or even 2 episodes in which we really got to see how he grew up in Italy, eventually meeting his "father", joining the Casanno family and becoming the legal adviser of the family...
Furthermore, it would have been better if they also showed the back story of the Babel Siblings - how Han Seok became an eccentric psychopath, how his brother put up with the expectations of the family and what did their father felt or do at that time. These would have been more interesting to see rather than those unnecessary or irrelevant scenes in the series...

In conclusion, Vincenzo had an epic beginning with the main character starting of the story in a bad ass way but in the end the inconsistencies of the plot and characters got the best of it.. This is entirely my opinion so I won't be discouraging people to watch it.. but I just want to say that kdrama writers should try to improve in writing their characters and plot.. We need female leads that are not just supporting characters.. We need main characters and plots that are consistent / logical... And lastly, we need villains that are on par with the hero because with that, it will leave an even deeper impact or impression with the audience / viewers..

P.S. I'm not hating the show.. This is just my opinion and I won't discourage people to watch this show..

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AVERAGE & OVERHYPED

VINCENZO is like that new dish you had always wanted to try out but it's served to you extremely bland. Good story, superb plot development. BUT, plenty of unnecessary characters to fill in the unnecessarily lengthy drama, slow screenwriting, substandard screenplay editing and dragged as well as stretched scenes to the point that it becomes BORING as early as in 4th eps. Morever, so many ILLOGICAL happenings in the disguse of fiction like typical Indian show where people get killed without a second thought and the killers get away with everything easily. They did an amazing job in casting actors for the major characters but NAHH, it's not it!

Story-writing: NICEEEEE
Script-writing: MEHHHH
Story and script are 2 different things and one doesn't necessarily has to be good at writing both. The direction could have compromised it but the director's screenplay editing made it even more boring.

They have portrayed homophobia in a positive light here hence I deduct one point from it. It was horrible to sit throught how they made fun of someone's sexuality.

Totally overhyped by people who only fall for visuals. Unreasonably rated high by people who watch selective dramas just for entertainment. It is not that bad but it definitely is not one of the best. PLEASE.

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An unexpected drama that fell off halfway

When I read the summary for this drama, I really didn't wanna watch it but after seeing some rave reviews from my friends and also not having anything else to watch, I decided to give it a go.

Overall, there were some "wtf" moments in this drama; an example is the rooftop scene when the group of pigeons just coincidentally helped Vincenzo when he was at a disadvantage. LOL? And the way that all the tenants, who came from an athletic background and even won championships were stuck in a place like Geumga Plaza was just very... coincidentally placed? I was really sad when Cha Yong's dad and Han Seo died, even though we've only seen the dad for a few beginning episodes but he made a very huge impact. Han Seo had the most character development but was sacrificed for our two leads (wowdidntseethatcoming). Also, does anyone else cringe when Vincenzo starts saying some Italian lines? Most of the time, the characters would be conversing about something important and he would randomly quote something from Italian; which would throw me off. Choi Myung Hee's satoori was so annoying (sorry) that I almost dropped this drama (yes it was until that extent).

I didn't care much about the Geumga Plaza tenants; tbh they were rather annoying than funny to me. Also, I think this drama would have been way better without the romance plot. I love Vincenzo & Cha Yong as individuals but unlike others, I don't really see the spark between them and would have loved it even more if they were just business partners.

The OST was good. The acting were A+++++++. But, I wouldn't rewatch it cause the episodes are long and a bit over-the-top for me.

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Not what I expected... let down

Maybe I am too hard or too demanding but I expected more from this drama.
I am a fan of #mafia storylines book-addict for that matter... and after all the books and research about this topic that i have done I feel let down. I mean it was well performed for a korean because as an itilian mobster it was not accurate enough. They sugarcoated too much, the characters development was a huge mess on some of them like Hong Cha-young or Vincenzo himself. If a character was one way in the beginning why did you make it seem like they were abducted by aliens that perdormed a lobotomy on them, e.g. Mrs. Hong how someone so materialistic and cheap could suddenly undergo a complete personality transformation... her character was too annoying and too nosy which devaluated the storyline from my personal pov.
The best job was done by Taechyun, his interpretation was superb, like i really was scared in some of his scenes, a lot more than with Vincenzo (the "mobster").
The storyline was underdeveloped and too long for only a few interesting episodes, they dragged the end for too long and then the most interesting part was too rushed and sloppily closed.
Another thing that was a overdid was the neighbours from the Geumga Plaza, sometimes they focused too much on them for my liking and there wasn't anything interesting to see...
The romance was truly the worst part 📢📢
NO CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THE ML AND FL!!!
Song Joon Ki had more chemistry with the other male leads and supporting cast than with Mrs. Jeon. Not trying to be anti or anything, I am just saying the truth from my personal perspective. There were a few awkward moments between them that they could have saved us from...
Summarising it, too much expectations that were not reached and too much melo for a "thriller/crime" drama.
Hope this review is helpful for you. 💕😝😊
P.S: Don't hate or impose over those with different opinions like myself in this case... let's all be respectful and mature.
P.S. II: Thanks for all the comments (goog ones, let's not leave bad comments, please).

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The acting of the villain is *Chef's Kiss*

Now that I have watched the show completely, I really think I should go back and thoroughly revise my review accordingly. This is probably going to be a very controversial one, so prepare yourselves to hate me all you want.

First off, let's start with the good thing (yes as in singular word "thing"! the only good thing!) about the show. I think we can all agree that this show wins the prize of the BEST VILLAIN OF THE CENTURY! In fact, I believe if someone's going to watch this show they're gonna wanna watch it for the sake of the villain's splendid acting skills. The actor does an amazing job of displaying controlled and uncontrolled rage and you will believe him to be a true devil. So when watching his scenes, get ready to have your mind blown away! Pay attention to his mimic and expressions and how smoothly yet drastically they change and you'll know what I'm talking about. Among all the characters in the show, he is the truest to the character and the most believable one as well. Now that I lay the only positive point about the show out there, off to the review:

Story:
The most buggy storyline I could have ever imagined for a show with such a strong concept! I mean, there are exaggerations flying all around the ML. The show tries too hard to depict him as a capable invincible vicious man and pushes it way too far to the point that logic falls apart and at the end of the show, everything seems stupid and out of pure luck instead of due to ML's capabilities. I mean, the scene with the birds helping him out, even if taken from a comedic point of view, has too much of an impact on the outcome to be brushed off and is too absurd to be acceptable. Also, how come every single person who joins forces with ML suddenly becomes the most capable person you could find in the whole country, but anyone on the villain's side seems not to have any brains? Even the villain's lawyer fails to think straight and prepare for a fight, to the point that the villain goes into a warzone with only 4-5 bullets in a gun he just randomly had to grab from his brother's belongings. The funny part is, people are only capable and smart as long as they are still with the ML. As soon as they betray him, they make the most stupid decisions and fail with anything they are planning to do. And WHAT IS UP with the plaza residents ALL being such an out-of-the-ordinarily usefully skilled bunch of people? I mean, every single one of them? Really? Why? Plus, the characters are way too far far away from being consistent (except for the villain and his lawyer), especially the FL! She is very strictly against violence even when she's seeking revenge on his father's death and yet she falls in love and keeps helping this vicious brutal really violent man who is never satisfied with just killing, but prefers to torture people mentally and physically before he kills them off. The FL is a 30-something-year-old lawyer. You would suppose she has more grounded personality traits. But that is so not the case.

Acting:
Well, I already talked about the villain. As for the rest of the main cast, I'm not sure if the actress is to blame or the character description was way too off, but she has the most unreal character among the main cast. I did not enjoy it at all. The ML on the other hand did pretty well, as Song Joong-ki usually does. However, compared to the loud character of the villain, the calm and relaxed character of the ML does not make much of an impression, even if the ML does throw his stunts and overcomes one challenge after another. I've never found myself rooting for the villain in a drama and I personally believe it's important to keep the drama focused on a strongly displayed lead role. It takes so much for a show to make me ignore the lead role and yet, this drama somehow managed to do that.

Music:
I'm probably being harsh on this one since I have a very particular taste in music, but none of the OSTs stood out for me.

Rewatch Value:
Nope! Not a chance I would go through 20 episodes of stupidity again! I wouldn't even recommend watching the show for the first time unless you already know you are up for a huge waste of time with draggy slow motions and scenes of the ML staring at walls and drinking wine while listening to music and you are willing to do so only to witness outstanding acting from the villain. Honestly, this is the only reason I did not drop the show, and do not regret watching it.

Final thoughts:
*****SPOILERS ALERT*****
I can not get over Ok Taecyeon's splendid acting. He is legit crazy and a perfect devil. I honestly didn't know he existed before Vincenzo aired since I'm not really into KPop and somehow I have managed to tiptoe around all his dramas over the past 15 years of me sweeping KDramas. At the same time, I really loved Song Joong-ki ever since Nice Guy aired, and even more so when Descendants of the Sun was released. But MAN! For me, Taecyeon's acting makes Song Joong-ki's role disappear in the background. He really killed it here.
I have to admit now after watching his previous dramas (notice that I loved his acting so much that I looked up his previous projects and watched them, even the ones from 2011) that he has made great progress with his acting skills. I can't wait to see more of him.
*****SPOILERS ALERT*****

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It's like watching cartoons (not in a good way)

There's a hero who saves the day and there's Vincenzo who fixes every problem/issue/injustice like a walk in the park 3 days before it even happens lol

Every episode ends on this major problem that they make seem like the end of the world with no way out. Yet on every next episode's first scene comes Vincenzo laughing in our faces like: SIKE!! I already knew about this and took my measures to prevent it!! Everything is great literally less than 10 minutes into the episode.

So Vincenzo knows everything about everyone and knows how the bad guys will think and act before they themselves know. Nothing (literally) is stopping him or slowing him down whatsoever. He's perfect and makes no mistakes. So why are we watching? It's incredibly unrealistic and unmotivating to watch someone who is good at everything. If I know that everything would magically work out for him anyway then what's the point?

The plot is a mess and I don't understand how it has a nearly 9 rate. Maybe people are seeing something I'm not but what I see is... A perfect mafia guy who killed lots of people and could never face problems, suddenly joins a bunch of random people's long fight against a huge corporation in a country he doesn't even know and swears to help them achieve "justice for some reason that was never discussed.

The fl character is flat and two-dimensional although being funny and quirky and quite promising in the first few episodes which, if used properly, could've been a really good and fresh view of female leads in kdramas.

Vincenzo's character being in the mafia was also a fresh concept that I was excited about until they butchered it literally in the first half of the first episode. And for the rest of the drama cut the whole mafia storyline down to being too cool and too smart and too ahead of everyone plus a bunch of random quotes said in Italian.

and what with the dreams he always has of killing people? What even is the purpose of those?

Every episode is longer than an hour which is extremely long for the lack of events in each one. it got quite boring really fast and sometimes I had to increase playback speed because everything is just SO SLOW I don't know why.

I don't have a problem with "easy to watch" light dramas. I also love Song Joong-ki (I really really do. He's the only reason I continued the drama) But this drama isn't light it's just plain ridiculous and I'm genuinely sad to say that I regret watching it!

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COULD'VE BEEN PERFECT

I was onboard the moment it was announced that Song Joong Ki will star, I was expecting a big serious action drama but i was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually lighter in tone - something i didnt know I needed.

ACTING. 9.5. Song Joong Ki as Vincenzo was just phenomenal here. Oh Taecyeon as Jang Jung Woo was so terrifying and was a revelation. Jeon Yeo Been's quirky and smart Hong Cha Young was just the right amount. The pool of amazing support cast - Kwak Dong Yeon, Kim Yeo Jin, Jo Han Chul, Yoo Jae Myung, and all the Geumga Plaza residents were all top notch.

STORY and EXECUTION. 8.5. The premise is interesting - and the overarching idea of good vs evil or evil versus lesser evil is not original but executed well. The shift in tone when Vincenzo arrived in Korea and the touch of comedy was also somehow welcoming.

However, in the middle of the series I got tired of the chess-like moves each camp is making, that it became a little hard to take things seriously. I questioned whether Vincenzo was really a scary mafia that we were constantly reminded of, and whether Jang Jung Woo was really a baddy or just a a spoiled little twat. It didnt help that the main characters, despite being constantly faced with danger or threat remained alive, almost till the end. Somehow it felt like the story and the lifespan of the characters were extended because the number of episodes were extended. Also, the fact that everyone in the Geumga Plaza building were somehow hiding a secret identity just made the story telling convenient but not necessarily engaging.

The special effects were also amazing.

REWATCHEABILITY. 8.5. Id argue that you can watch it and mute the sounds and the show will still be watchable thanks to the visuals of Joong-Ki - this guy age so well. Okay in all seriousness, although there are some weak moments, the light tones sprinkled within the series made it easy to watch and re-watch. The characters are easy to love and the villains are so hateable that overall it is still entertaining.

OVERALL im giving this show a 9 out of 10.

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When In Rome ( or Seoul), Take A Leaf Out Of Vincenzo’s Book...

Park Jae Bum’s ( The Fiery Priest, Chief Kim)screenwriting as well as director Kim Hee Won ( The Crowned Clown, Love You) did leave a distinct mark of their combined style by mixing heavy-hitting tension with lighthearted moments throughout the storyline .

Yet whilst the comedy is evidently prominent in the plot to relieve more vigorous themes, it is probably fair to say that typical of Jae Bum’s screenwriting, the comedy often felt slightly juvenile in parts and an unnecessary weight at times. ( In certain episodes, you’d go from having an incredibly intriguing and fierce revelation exposing the mafia’s dark roots, only to have a tiresome gag in the next such as a word play upon Vincenzo’s name in early episodes.)

Admittedly, there are several moments in the drama ( even by the main cast ) which may raise an eyebrow by questionable line deliverances. However, as far as acting is concerned, the main cast were absolutely brilliant as our main leads.Song Joong Ki and Ok Tae’s Yeon headline the drama by their high-profile acting careers, however, even fellow costars Jeon Yeo Bin and Kwan Dong Yeon will quickly win the hearts and affections of the viewers also.

The characterisation in the drama was honestly a mixed bag. Song Joong Ki’s character Vincenzo was undeniably an intriguing protagonist. Whilst initially falling into the trap of the romanticised ‘ good gangster’, it was intriguing to see screenwriter Jae Bum breaking this mould in order to develop Vincenzo with sentience and realistically questionable morality rather than merely being a " hero who saves the day". However, there was a lot which felt vacuous with Vincenzo’s character, not least never going into his actual reasons for joining the mafia as a consigliere ( which was always half-baked) , his bond or relationship with his adopted Italian parents and ultimately exploring the actual reasons why his birth mother gave him up in the first place.

Next, is our main female lead Hong Cha Young ( Jeon Yeo Bin). Cha Young did initially seem to go down the route or being a little irksome in the beginning of the drama, but, her unreserved assertions and loyalty towards Vincenzo soon become defining qualities about the character. For instance, Cha Young has long-held enmity throughout the show towards Kim Yeo Jin’s character Prosecutor Choi Myung Hee. (Or ‘ Zumba Snake’) which certainly was maintained . On the other hand, similar to Vincenzo , Cha-Young is not a flawless character. Sometimes, she struggled to be lifted from being anything more than one- dimensional such as her textbook-style, (rather than emotional) responses initially to the events around her father Hong Yoo Chan ( Yoo Jae Myung) in earlier episodes. ( Which after their initial use in the main storyline, were disregarded completely without Cha-Young even contemplating this significant factor again.)

As far as the relationship between Cha Young and Vincenzo is concerned, it was a fairly predictable formula. There was nothing inherently wrong with it per say and did present some essential bonding moments between the characters, however, it often felt a little enforced for the sake of plot when it was necessary , rather than developing this with the respected characters’ thoughts and feelings in mind.

Antagonists are an intriguing conversation to talk about in the drama. From the cliche cronies, law firm enthusiasts Choi Myung Hee ( arguably one of the most annoying villains in the show) , CEO of the rival law firm Woosang Han Seung Hyuk ( Jo Han Chul) and the " dumb, but not so bad" masqueraded CEO of ‘ Babel Group’( Kwan Dong Yeon), the show has an odd array of trope advisories .

However, finishing up assessing ' Vincenzo’ wouldn’t be completed without talking about the drama’s main villain Jang Jun Woo. This is because, Jun Woo is designed to be the " ultimate twist villain" and " big bad" early on in the series, but, he was often underplayed as a dead weight and minor threat until later events. This wouldn’t have been such a bad screenwriting decision, if the show had used some time to go into Jun Woo’s backstory ( apart from a couple of brief flashbacks) or sketched him out more than just a " villain you’re supposed to hate". Jun Woo is far from romanticised or glossed over and whilst later episodes enjoy going into a " Sherlock Holmes And Moriarty" rivalry between Vincenzo and Jun Woo, there was little sense of actual build or intrigue behind similarities (and even differences) between them. Of course, Jun Woo served his main purpose; a disturbing evildoer, but he could have certainly been so much more than a one-dimensional moustache twirling villain.

The ending did hold the drama in good-stead with a bittersweet cliffhanger which reflected the overall themes and genres of the show. Admittedly, there were a couple of things which could have been tied more concisely in the ending ( despite its long duration), but, it did bring an appropriate finale. With an odd balance between genres and screenwriting decisions, Vincenzo is attractive for viewers’ attention by its main premise and cast. Certainly enjoyable in parts and not unwatchable, but, a little overrated for what its worth.

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Horrible Overrated

I constantly see this show being hyped up but honestly I don’t think it’s that good?
The female lead is underdeveloped, she’s supposedly a top lawyer defending a company with plenty of dirt to be dug up (meaning you’d have to be very good at your job to keep them from losing the case), and yet she’s constantly relying on Vincenzo. Everything being done is all Vincenzo Vincenzo Vincenzo. Who made the plan? Vincenzo. Who is the key player for said plan? Vincenzo. Etc. She should’ve been given more opportunities to actually do something because she was a useless character that didn’t live up to her background. Not to mention she’s honestly a questionable character. Like she knew what Babel was doing and yet she didn’t care to do shit until it affected her personally (her dad being killed). Like…?
Moving on from her, the main enemies (Vincenzo and Jun Woo) are not at all an even match. Vincenzo overpowers the villains wayyy too much. He’s constantly planning ahead and is seemingly immortal (literally how is it that hard to kill a single person) while the villains are set up to be so tough and yet they’re really not all that? Honestly they’re stupid. For example, Vincenzo’s mom. They see that Vincenzo, who has yet to be really personally affected by them but is still set on destroying them, is a real threat and that he has a weak old mom who he loves. And what do they do? They killed her, giving him even more motivation to destroy them. The smart move would’ve been to have kidnapped her and controlled him using her. And despite how obviously weaker they are compared to Vincenzo it still took him so long to destroy them. Like??? Realistically it really should’ve taken him a week, max. Especially given he wasnt even going in accordance to the law, he just ended up killing them which he could’ve easily done before.
As for the side characters, I get that they’re for comedic purposes but they’re so useless and unrealistic. Useless because they served no purpose to the plot that couldn’t have easily been given to a different character who already has purpose. And unrealistic because what are the chances that a bunch of secretly amazing fighters just happen to live together?
And as for Han Seo, I have no particular problem with his character, if anything he’s probably the best written one, but his death was so cheap. Like I get you want something with an emotional impact to make the show more memorable, but you could at least make his death useful. His death served no purpose to the plot, could’ve been easily avoided, and created a hole in Vincenzo’s character (as in, he’s supposedly some mastermind and yet instead of grabbing the gun and shooting Jun Woo, which would’ve saved Han Seo, he goes to Cha Young which was useless).
But that’s just my opinion, feel free to disagree.

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Good potential marred by poor scripting and character development

WARNING: This review does contain a fair amount of spoilers, and is meant for people who have watched the drama and are here to commiserate.

First off, Vincenzo is not a bad drama. It is well produced, entertaining and the cast is sufficiently charismatic enough to make one feel invested. But it always feels like you’re waiting for that Great Plot Moment to happen, rather than actually getting said Great Plot Moment.

Make no mistake, this is not for lack of trying on the scriptwriter’s part. In fact, often it feels as though the drama is trying to serve up an entire buffet of iconic screen moments - a la romantic sit ups from Secret Garden that people will reference for years to come - rather than to tell an actual story. The basic bones of the plot has the potential to go quite deep, and being constantly offered this sort of shallow entertainment instead of something more substantial left the bad taste of dissatisfaction after every episode.

To begin with, we had an infallible hero pitted against a one-dimensional villain.

Vincenzo is a Mary-Sue. His plans never fail. He knows everyone who is anyone. Everybody loves him (except of course, the baddies). He always manages to light his iconic lighter on the first attempt. He also gets hit by a truck and makes a complete recovery, without so much as needing physiotherapy or even recovery time after waking up. He escapes an entire intelligence organisation (make that two intelligence organisations) continuously throughout the show, AND to top if off, he kills off side characters in the same offhand way as the villains but never ever faces any kind of consequence for it. Clearly, god's favour - that being the scriptwriter - rests on him.

On the other hand, poor Tacyeon received no such blessings. Jang Joon Woo is portrayed as an absolute villain. He is violent, self-serving and psychotic. He has no redeeming qualities, no deep motivations for his actions, no sad backstory to humanise him. He is simply there to be the villain. Even his cute puppy love for Hong Cha Young is ephemeral, serving no plot purpose except possibly comedy and 2PM fan service. It appears that Chaka-nim did not love him enough to make him an actual person. Chaka-nim used him simply to drive the plot forward and give the audience a 100% pure unadulterated evil character to hate.

Next, the themes of the drama were not properly developed.

With the hero and the villain being such polar opposites, there is no meaningful way to explore the theme of good and evil — a theme one would fully expect from a show such as this. Both Vincenzo and Jang Joon Woo are bad guys, so what makes us root for one over the other? What, exactly, is good and what is evil? These are the thoughts that the drama should have provoked in the audience. More deliberate side-by-side lining up of these two characters, muddying up the lines between them would have made for a more compelling story. Yes the drama does frequently drop reminders that Vincenzo is no angel, but still expects us to love and adore him all the same, as shown by the ensemble cast.

Similarly, so much more could have been done with Hong Cha Young. Her motivations and character development in the drama are vague, to say the least. She has no clear growth arc. She initially appears motivated by revenge, but her father’s death is quickly forgotten once it has served its purpose of bringing her and Vincenzo together. Does she change as the story progresses? Does she become more like those she is trying to destroy? Does she grow into fully inheriting her father’s legacy as the “Last Straw”? We don’t know because, like Jang Joon Woo, she is there merely to serve the plot and the romance. It is such a waste because she is perfectly positioned to explore how a person might become evil, sort of like a possible origin story suggesting how the male leads might have ended up being who they are. She would also have been a much more suitable adversary to Choi Myung Hee, driven as she is by personal revenge, as well as possibly being the younger version of Choi Myung Hee had the drama made use of that potential direction. Which, as with so many other opportunities, it didn’t.

Finally, a note about the drama’s presentation of violence.

Watching Vincenzo, I felt uncomfortable with the way the drama handled violence and gangsterism. It was not Jang Joon Woo’s rampage scenes that bothered me, even though those were graphic. Those were clearly portrayed as wrong and undesirable. It was the way the drama permitted its heroic couple to casually kill off side characters with no reprimand or consequence. Vincenzo and Hong Cha Young engage in their own share of violence, either directly or indirectly, killing off those they wish to seek vengeance on, who are in their way, or who have outlived their usefulness, but their position as heroes is never once questioned. They continue to enjoy the adulation of all the ‘good people’ in the drama and, by extension, that of the audience too. I understand that this is a show about pitting a lesser evil against a greater evil, and the writers wanted to highlight the morally ambiguous aspect of Vincenzo, but they definitely have double standards for Vincenzo and Jang Joon Woo’s equally criminal, and equally selfishly motivated acts, presenting Jang Joon Woo’s crimes as abominable while excusing Vincenzo’s deeds. This, more so than the actual violence itself, makes me feel that the drama fully deserves its M18 rating on Netflix.

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