Vincenzo (2021)

Okay first off SPOILERS AHEAD

Taecyeon - HOLY SHIT.


I mean I've never seen him like this, I just love me a hot psychopath and this guy is a total snack obviously soooo honestly I can't rate lower.

But let me tell you why I was frustrated despite enjoying it too.

It's basically the kind of show where serious stuff happens but then they make a joke so it ends up becoming an entertaining one which is what it should have been because the finale was absolutely one of the worst I've seen for such a drama.

It was all over the place, Taecyeon killed his brother and I felt sad but the way it was shot even, if you shoot two people and make Vincenzo try to save them, it was just cringe the way that and the preceding 'torture' was executed.

It was supposed to be edgy and dark, and it ends up being cringe or pretentious.

Now, I'm not the type to hate operas, Chinese or Italian, or whatever I love all that stuff so I had no problem with those parts. The problem was the way they handled the darkness. He's Psychometric has a way better story that keeps you guessing and the two brothers actually love each other so the eventual unlocking of the mystery makes you cry for them both. Even though Psychometric didn't handle the end with the brothers to my liking at least you see them struggling with their demons and loving each other. Psychometric despite it's faults actually has some good writing.

This is why I find Devil Judge so amazing because its not just solid direction but a fantastic script that has nuance.


That's what Sam and Dean do, you get so emotionally invested. The Lost Tomb has enough Bromance that becomes your favorite even if one person is a abusive.

The thing is either make it Stockholm syndrome or do something that makes them being brothers have a point - But there was nothing in this story. They could have been strangers and nothing would change.

The script was so basic. Another problem because just trying to look edgy is fine if you have solid writing. This one aaah it's all just a bunch of random, convenient stuff happening. Case in point - once Vincenzo was saved by .. wait for it ... A BUNCH OF FREAKING BIRDS. that's how random and convenient the stuff that happened was bro xd

But nothing disappointed me more than that brothers story because they didn't act like siblings and for 20 eps there was barely any explanation for them, barely a past established, you had no idea why either of them was behaving the way they did.

So honest I didn't hate or dislike the characters as much as I found them nothing special. Because like so much convenient stuff was going on, like a guy as RUTHLESS AND CUNNING as Taecyeon and all the prosecutors and officials, just how did they SO EASILY get duped AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN by taking place of their security detail and doing Carrie style blood throwing on the villain - Taecyeon lol


Seriously it started to get hilarious XD

But despite that Taecyeon every time he was on screen I was basically swooooning a hot badass villain ffs for this and for giving me a new ship I'll be grateful ;)

Ohh and also Kim Yeo Jin her character had depth mostly because of how she played it, Choi Myung hee being so loyal to Taecyeon right down to the end made me feel a little better at least, especially when he was dancing with her that was just so WHOLESOME

Song Joongki was Fine. Jeon Yeo Been was fine. Kwak Dong Yeon was fine, Jo Han Chul played a character I've seen him play several times so it was just fine too. But like I said apart from the first episode, the 'clever' ideas just became too strange and unrealistic. The torture scene in the finale was the most disappointing! Taecyeon supposedly had no humanity and so his attitude with his brother would make sense, he's killed people for less, but then CLEARLY forms a motherly bond with Choi Myung hee and stays loyal and faithful, those things are the exact opposite of each other. But like I said the script is so basic, there's no research, nothing. That's why that last torture scene doesn't make sense either because Taecyeon showed no emotions other than excitement and malice even when Vincenzo was holding a gun to his head, meaning his emotions must be off right, but then in the end he was all crying and begging HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE. If instead of Googling a listicle with cool European ancient torture techniques (we've all done it lol) they should have worried about keeping the character of AT LEAST the main villain consistent like the first season of Voice with Kim Jaewook and Janghyuk, it would have been a much more promising story.

But okay, credit where its due - that finale scene where Song Joongki leaves Taecyeon to rot like I said the execution of the torture could have been done better but the scene where the crow comes to sit on Taecyeon and there's a sun flare - that got to me.

But you can't really make an impact with a scene like this if people are just going to go back to acting like they're in a Mafia rom com.

The action isn't bad either, its entertaining like I said just don't expect much and some bits get draggy and repetitive.

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Exited the hype bus but it was an alright ride

If you are on the algorithm for KDrama watchers on social media, you’ve probably already heard of Vincenzo and chances are you don’t really need another review telling you whether or not to watch this. You’ve already heard all the hot takes from the hype train to the “unpopular opinion but…” This drama got incredible attention during its weekly releases and for good reason. The first half of this show is nothing short of an edge-of-your-seat experience. On the other hand, viewers who don’t take well to this drama are not unjustified, and my guess is that this drama is not going to age very well. If, by some slim chance you’re actually reading this review while on the fence, then know that this show is more like The Sopranos meets Law and Order meets KDrama than some of the other comparisons I’ve seen. It’s good, but I’d question your taste if this made it into your all time favorites list.

The good: music and production
The OST of this drama is great. Every song hits hard when it needs to. KDrama OSTs are usually very long, but 67 tracks? That’s why nothing ever gets old- there was some real thought that went into having a song for every moment. Solar’s performance on Adrenaline is great- she’s got amazing control of her voice. The production was great too, but I would also say that it’s about what you’d expect for an $18 million KDrama in 2021, there’s nothing that’s novel.

The just alright: story and acting
The story progression of this drama is mostly this: a threat upon Vincenzo is made at the beginning of the episode and either by the end or halfway through the next, it is revealed that Vincenzo knew all along of what was coming and had a plan. Vincenzo always wins and the stakes get higher for the next threat. It’s not objectively a bad formula and this show does it very well at the beginning. Even though you know that Vincenzo will win, you still want to know how. Getting there is plenty rewarding at the beginning, and this show is not entirely without consequences, but by the end this formula gets tiring because it's less rewarding as time goes on, less and less character development happens, and Vincenzo fully reverts to being a cruel mafia member by the end. The world building is outrageous but not out of the ordinary for the genre. I never really fault KDramas for not being “believable” but if that’s not your thing, then you should skip this one.

The acting is just okay. Song Joong-Ki was good, but didn’t show a ton of range. The romance scenes never quite hit the way they were supposed to. Honestly the chemistry the two leads had as business partners was way more satisfying than as lovers.


The terrible: rewatch value
I think you know where this is going: the glorification of vigilante justice. There’s absolutely no sugar coating it because it’s so bad, and it just gets worse and worse. The way to beat the bad guys at first was to outsmart them, but this show gets progressively more violent as it goes on, and by episode 20 the writers are working overtime to convince you that the heinous acts being shown to you are okay because Vincenzo is doing them, he knows best so this must be the only solution.

Another crime was what was unexplored or undeveloped, like the flashbacks that Vincenzo kept getting at the beginning of his mafia days, or Vincenzo’s adoption story. This could have been such a good story. “Adopted Korean grows up in an Italian mafia as a consigliere, ends up back in South Korea and takes on the nation’s corrupt politicians and business leaders.” When I hear that, I picture a story that tells who he was in the past, how that changes throughout the series, and who he might be afterwards, but you don’t get any of that. We’re forced to believe he’s invincible and always has been because it’s what everyone in this show keeps telling you. He goes through absolutely no character development after episode 4. Vincenzo is never confronted with the consequences of his actions and he never has to because the point of the show is to constantly tell you that he is all knowing, all powerful. I feel the worst for all the other characters because by the end, they’re all worse people. They’re greedier and more needlessly violent. Honestly, I’m convinced that the studio commissioned this story and the writers bent over backwards to “just make it work” but had no direction as to how to do it.


Overall
I’d still say that this was entertaining to watch as long as you know how to suspend your disbelief and are familiar with the genre. The ratings of this are incredible across the board, and people all over are singing the praises of this drama. I really want to drive this point home though: it’s trendy, not a classic. People will talk about it all through 2021 because it ticks a lot of boxes for people, but it’s not here to stay as a “classic.” The writers were so concerned with being edgy and trendy that they forgot to be timeless.

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taecyeon playing a crazy CEO serial killer pretending to be a naïve lawyer is by far the best part of the show but I literally hated everything else. Vincenzo is a self impressed self righteous sum bag with thinks he's hot shit when he's just as bad as the villain's and not even half as fun. does terrible shit and facing no consequences for his actions and is honestly rewarded for all the bad things he does. the female leads and the tenants of the apartment building are all in a different show. the tine is all over the place. not fun the only thing I cared about was taecyeon and anything he was doing he's the only reason this was not dropped

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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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One of the Worst KDramas in history! Period!

I don't even understand where to start with! I honestly, on a very serious note, beg you to not get swayed away by these high ratings on MDL. After all these 26 hours of utter headache, I can very rightly say that all these are either paid or written by crazy, illogical, shallow Song-Joong Ki fangirls. And the entire show just seems to be a total SJK fan-service, and nothing else!

There are several reasons as why to this show piqued my frustrations levels, so let's get to the point with what went wrong with the drama.

WHAT WENT WRONG?

1) STORY/SCRIPTWRITING:
What the heck was with the story??? It merely felt like the show was written by a mere 16-17 year kid expecting the audience to get apalled by lame comedy, which can't even be called BLACK, just dumb lame. The ML just sitting blindly staring at his TV predicts every move of the villain from GOD knows what kind of premonitions. One skinny ken doll crippling an entire mob of gangsters? A middle aged guy stabbing thugs with scissors? The villain killing off all sorts of guys without even bringing a trace of doubt to the public? An international security service police fan-boying a Mafia? Lol even kids can write a better story than this! And don't even get me started on INZAGI!!! Like wtf!! Am I sitting here watching a cartoon in the name of black comedy? The entire point of Vincenzo coming to Korea to come and retrieve his Gold and ends up keeping it back in Korea as a bed for his lover? The main villain can kill off every damn person involved in his heinous deeds, but failed to harm an ant from the Geumgo Plaza? My goodness, it felt like I'm watching some illogical bollywood movie just earning in the name of a Hero!

2) ACTING:
The FL (X_X), I would've been really happy if she was the one killed off first instead of her father! Like honestly, how can you even look at yourself in the mirror after all those indigestible doses of overacting! Like you can call yourself a righteous competitive lawyer and can't even fight a single case with sincerity? All the slapstick comedies from the supporting actors were way too overdone and lame, I couldn't even bring myself to a chuckle, they were all plain annoying! The writer seemed to shock the public with innumerable deaths like some sort of a GOT genre, but failed to bring out even an ounce of emotional attachment for the deceased for such bad character developments! It was majorly Taecyon's and the Female villain's acting that desperately tried to save the show from churning to pieces, but in vain!

3) EXCESSIVE GLORIFICATION OF VIGILANTE JUSTICE:
If some people might be thinking that the core concept of the show was this, let me correct you, it is not. The main character was just an egoistic self righteous dickhead who just wanted to procure his belongings, but got stumbled upon nonetheless. Vigilant justice should be never be, at least in my opinion, ever be justified. There are layers and layers behind any sort of criminal case with loads of loopholes and connected people and it should always be dealt with sensitively with a lot of afterthought. Unlike here, where the law was turned into an entire state of mockery.

4) EXCESSIVE AMOUNT OF QUEERBAITING/ HOMOPHOBIA:
The number of times the show portrayed really unnecessary uncomfortable queer-baiting scenes, with the ML being a total homophobe. Even the gay character was portrayed in such a cliché manner with such terrible portrayal of lgbt characters, as if South Korea doesn't have it's fair share of innate homophobia!

5) NO RESPECT FOR RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS:
There wasn't any direct attack on anyone's religious sentiments, but it wasn't even shown in a good light, but was instead portrayed as a mere comedic tool!

WHAT WORKED???
Well, I really tried to find it but couldn't! :( No hate here but there wasn't a single likeable element in the entire show that I felt so far. It was a total waste of my time!

I usually have really high expectations out of any KDrama, cause they have never actually ever let me down, at least not to this extent that this drama did, solely the reason that I pulled myself together to finish this hoping something might pull the strings! But Alas! If would've been my 2nd or 3rd Kdrama I would've totally stopped watching KDramas altogether XD! It is really disturbing to see to what extent people can go just to support and promote their favourite actor/idol, even if they make utter shit! Luckily I've chose my dramas list carefully and trusted my instincts! :P

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Mixing genres did not work for this drama.

This could have been so much better if they didn't try so hard to be funny.

The comedy elements of the show don't work 80% of the time. I think this show would have been much better if they just focused on the serious elements. I found myself about halfway through skipping through the 'funny' parts. I just wanted to get to the action and the scenes that drove the story forward because these were so well done. Chang-young is not funny at all. Like not at all. Not even a little bit. The jokey torture scenes by the tenants don't work, the funny intelligence agent obsessed with Vincenzo doesn't work because it makes him come off as incompetent. And whenever they went for a blockbuster finish with slow motion and over-the-top music it came off as way too cheesy.

My favorite scene is the first time Myung hee gets threatened in the laundromat it's so real and so effective. Great directing, acting, and great momentum is built. Whenever they switched to the jokes they lost momentum built in these serious powerful scenes so I would be at the edge of my seat one moment and rolling my eyes hitting fast forward the next which made for unbalanced viewing. This drama had such high potential but it was ruined by an attempt to also be a comedy, it should have just been a drama about the gangster life of different members of society.

Song Joong-ki/ Vincenzo is the only reason I watched until the end. He is the only lead whose acting feels natural but he is backed into a corner by the terrible writing and story progression. Han Seo and Seung-hyuk were the only other believable characters in this mess.

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I wouldn't recommend this drama to anyone

The writers of this drama didn't do the least bit of research on anything. To not waste your time, here is a list of my opinions.

CONCLUSION
- Occasional cool/funny/well made scenes.
- Good cinematography
- Meh music
- Meh dialogue
- More meh editing
- More meh characters
- Really bad writing
- No realism.



PROS.
- A handful of scenes were seriously funny, grotesquely gorgeous and surprisingly creative.

- Sometimes the music was very impactful.

- The cinematography was great.

CONS
- They wrote a drama about lawyers fighting corrupt bussiness men in Korea but there is only a total of ONE trial and nothing is done through the law. If Korea didn't have the obnoxious rule to call someone by their occupation rather than their name, I would've forgotten that this drama had lawyers in it at all.

- The writers did not do any trial research before hand so the trial scene is just a mess and a complete joke.
Characters speak however and whenever they want. Illegal evidence is accepted. Input from spectators are affecting the case, and it's not even done to make things seem corrupt, it's done to make the characters seem "Mafioso" and intelligent. Which it didn't.

- This is not a "clever" law drama.
The writers are trying to convince us that Vincenzo is a genius lawyer with a mafia related background who outsmarts his enemies but non of his plans are actually clever. He's basically just kidnapping people, torturing them for confessions and then spreading illegally acquired information to the police without ever being questioned or held accountable. No trials, no case, just plot holes and plot armour.

- The main villain is a diagnosed psychopath but has a more dramatic emotional range than myself.
Once again, the writers didn't research psychopathy so they wrote a character who is extremely emotionally driven and then called him a psychopath cause he murders people. Even though he murders people out of pleasure. (For those who don't know, psychopaths don't have the ability to feel most emotions and would never kill out of pleasure cause they can't feel it. They don't feel pleasure, attraction, enjoyment or fear of consequences, to name a few.)

- The characters are inconsistent or too consistent.
They seem intelligent at times but then they strugle with simpler problems. There is no character development. All the characters have about 1 personality trait each. Characters suddenly gain new talents to fit the plot sometimes.

- The comedy was misplaced too often.
Trying to lighten the mood or make things funny at the wrong time happened so frequently in this drama that the characters started to look dumb. Executions of important missions were looking sloppy and the characters were looking unreliable and out of character.

- Too many episode for their own good.
Giving Vincenzo 20 episodes was a mistake. The writers could barely make the series last 16 without repeating the same type of conflicts over and over again.

- Actions without consequence.
Ex: The big bad got shot in the ear. He has a tear in his ear lobe that looks like someone accidentally pulled his earring out and he didn't become deaf. Showing us once again that the writing team didn't even do research on what type of damage a bullet to the ear makes.

- Plot holes.
Lots of them. Sometimes very important details that I was curious to hear about were brushed over and never mentioned again

- Some of the editing is really bad.
Sometimes they miss the mark completely by placing events or scenes in a bad order. Like for example, revealing the big bad of the story and then having another unimportant scene take up the last 2 min of the episode before it ends. Killing the impact of the reveal and leaving a bad aftertaste.

- The music either changed multiple times during one scene or didnt match the scene at all, at times.

- Vincenzo speaking in a horrible Italian accent to prove he lived in Italy and the Big Bad constantly reminding us that he studied in America by mixing Korean and english in every episode was very cringy and got old really fast.

The ending scene of episode 19 is the dumbest thing I've seen in a long time. The beginning scene of episode 20 made me drop the drama.

If you want a similar but better drama I would recommend "Your Honour".

P.s Might continue to edit this review as I couldnt remember everything I wanted to write.

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This review is written for those hoping this drama is something special. (Only minor spoilers)

CHARACTERS: (8/10)
Vincenzo is hyped up to be a very tactful and vicious mafia consigliere. However, his methods ended up seeming more petty and successful due to luck and not plain skill. The female lead, Hong Cha Young was perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the show. She is introduced as a not-so-honest hotshot lawyer. However, for most of the drama, she is on the sidelines letting Vincenzo make all the moves and taking credit for achievements she had no hand in. I was expecting them to be more of an unconventional power couple, but what we ended up seeing was NOT even a mafia consigliere and his damsel-in-distress (albeit there was a DID moment) but a mafia consigliere and a pretty woman that just tags along and solely exists as a love interest. The most frustrating part has to be that it's clear Cha Young had the skills to be a powerful character in the show. She is intelligent, resilient, and had all the tools to really become a woman we all would want to cheer on. It just simply did not happen.

Aside from the two main characters. I have to applaud the villains. Choi Myung Hee was absolutely despicable. She was a good villain that I thoroughly enjoyed hating. I do, however, have to take note that her motive seemed a bit lackluster. I never really figured out why she put so much into helping the main villain. The main villain, [REDACTED], was impeccable on-screen. His reveal had me gasp aloud and he truly became unhinged as the show went on. It was quite entertaining.

The side characters were very enjoyable as well. They lightened the show. I especially have to give credit to Kwak Dong Yeon. I ended up adoring his pathetic character that eventually mustered up the courage to become someone we all cheered on. I will definitely be on the lookout for his future roles.

STORY: (6/10)
The story is quite honestly boring and drags a lot. The plot was essentially about a mafia consigliere versus a greedy business owner and his lawyers. A lot of the conflict happened but to the average watcher such as myself, the business doings were quite boring and hard to follow. This is not to say, that it was accurate to the business world. In fact, even an ignorant person such as myself could tell the plot points were horribly illogical. I pretty much skipped through all those parts.

MUSIC: (8/10)
The OST was nothing memorable that I would save on a playlist but it was quite fitting and enjoyable.

REWATCH VALUE: (5/10)
The drama dragged on too long. 20 episodes that were each about 1.5 hours long. This drama could've easily ended at 16 episodes, but it kept getting sidetracked with unnecessary side plots with so many characters that I couldn't even keep track of after a certain point. I don't think it has much rewatch value. However, it is a good show to use to fulfill a craving for a dark comedy involving a hot anti-hero.

OVERALL: (7/10)
If you're looking for an action-packed drama with morally ambiguous protagonists and a generous handful of humor, this drama will not disappoint. However, many aspects of this drama fell short of the set up in the first episode. I would recommend this show to any SJK fan or someone looking for a slightly above-average dark comedy with a pinch of romance.

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It's a "no" from me, dawg.

My lover had said to me that this drama is too good, he said he liked it so much that I have to watch it with him cus he said he would rewatch it all over again.

I found this very hard to watch.

In the beginning, I thought I was gonna watch a super serious Korean Drama due to reading the synopsis, later to find out I was watching a drama extremely filled with comedy.

There were sooo many scenarios where I felt things were a little too impossible to be approached or overcome. Not a fan of extremely fictional scripts that were too unrealistic.

Actors & actresses were actually really good when it comes to them acting seriously like: genuinely sad, genuinely scared, annoying or even scary.

I just couldn't really take the comedy parts so well, cus it felt like it was trying too hard to be funny.

My lover was saddened I didn't enjoy the drama, but this is just my honest opinion.

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Warning: Unpopular Opinion Ahead. Read At Own Risk.

Unpopular Opinion - People are only rating this drama high, because SJK is in it, and he's a popular actor in Korea and internationally, so anything that he's in will get hyped up. He's like the BTS of K-Dramas.

Now, I will say that SJK's acting was amazing, and of course I was drooling over him like everyone else. But let's not lie to ourselves by saying that this is a masterpiece of a K-Drama, with an amazing never-seen-before mind-blowing story, the best one that came out in 2021. Yes, there's people that say stuff like this. Why not just admit we're enjoying it because SJK is hot as fuck? I can see how people might like some elements that I don't enjoy. But saying that the story is amazing is just a lie.

The things that I personally disliked that other people might find endearing are:
The Story - To me, it wasn't original in any way, shape or form, it just wasn't unique. There were no crazy plot-twists that would leave my jaw on the floor (the only one was the revelation of the real Chairman). At the beginning, it seemed like Vincenzo was going to follow a totally different structure from the other K-Dramas we see nowadays, but the structure of the story quickly became repetitive and predictable. It was pretty much just: Conflict happens. Vincenzo solves it. Humour. Conflict happens. Vincenzo solves it. Humour. And then it just pretty much follows the same formula, except maybe sometimes there's a death of someone that throws off this formula, but not for long. There's not much struggle for the characters, or a sense of urgency, or suspense, which makes it boring for me to watch. If there is some conflict, it either gets solved in the same episode, or in the next episode, which makes you feel like there are no stakes for the characters. Like, what's the point of introducing this conflict if it will be resolved right away? Another thing that threw me off was some funny moments that just felt misplaced at some points. I didn't hate all of them, but some of those just felt like unnecessary filler, which -again- made me feel bored. All in all, the pacing wasn't the best.

The Main Character - I know. I'm horrible. Although I liked the acting (and the visuals of SJK), the way Vincenzo was written just wasn't in my style. In my humble opinion, Vincenzo represents a Gary Stu. If you don't know what that is, here's a definition: "A male version of a Mary Sue. Seemingly perfect character with no flaws, or who always overpowers other characters." Again, people might disagree, but I feel like Vincenzo fits this description well. He's too OP, always solves everything, and never struggles, unless it's convenient for the plot. For example, throughout the whole drama, Vincenzo is this guy who's so smart and conniving, who always finds the most creative ways to destroy his opponent, which I wouldn't even dream of, he always ends up surprising us with his clever ideas to get out of bad situations. He's always ten steps ahead. But, when the writer wants to kill off Jang Han Seo, all of a sudden, Vincenzo turns into a coward who wants to run away. He always has these crazy ideas to win, but when the villain is lying on the floor, with the gun out of his hands, he fails to do the most simple thing - which is take the gun, beat him up, and capture him. Vincenzo doesn't struggle much throughout the story, and when he does, it's done in a way that doesn't make sense for his character. It would be fine if he was a side character, but because he's a main lead, it means we have to follow him around. It's not endearing at all. I like following characters that struggle, and that have weaknesses, because that makes them more likeable. If they have flaws, weaknesses, struggles, and end up failing from time-to-time, it makes them more realistic, which makes them more relatable, which makes them more sympathetic. Not to mention, if a main character starts out practically perfect, it means there's no room for character development. That's Vincenzo. He's smart, witty, strong, handsome, and creative. And when he does have a bad trait, it's a trait that ends up not changing. As a result, Vincenzo ends up being the exact same person in the first and last episode. It's something others seemed to like, but as someone who's a sucker for good character development, I wasn't impressed. Personally, I didn't have a problem with any other characters. Some I was okay with, some I even liked. Because Vincenzo played the biggest part of the story though (obviously), that's probably why I ended up feeling bored most of the time.

The Humour - I actually didn't hate this. I have mixed feelings about this. There were times where I appreciated it, and times where it felt forced, unnatural, and it ruined my immersion. In those moments, the humour felt unbearable. Especially during moments I didn't find funny, I would cringe, or just want the story to move on. I also know a lot of people liked the not-realistic aspects and that K-Dramas aren't supposed to be realistic. But for me, some of the things that happened were too much, even for K-Drama logic. There were some moments that just felt like an obvious filler, and I just couldn't get over some moments how a character would die in one scene, and then straight afterwards, we would have them acting all silly. Sometimes, it just didn't fit the mood, and there were moments where I wished they would of let the dread and suspense linger, because it would make the humorous moments more impactful, in my opinion.

That being said, I didn't hate everything. That's why I didn't give it one star. The things I did like:
Cinematography - I loved the camerawork, and how they shot certain moments. You can see the high budget reflected in the drama, when you watch it. Of course, the amazing cinematography captured SJK's beauty well. I also like the symbolism behind some shots.

Acting - I think they chose great actors, who portrayed their roles perfectly. There was not one actor I've seen in this drama, which I would find to not do well. The heroes, villains, and anti-heroes all showed great range of emotions.

Antagonist - I noticed that a lot of people don't like Jung Woo being the real chairman, because he's too silly and cartoonish, and because he dances around and acts like a fool. But that's exactly why I liked him. Because he has a personality other than the fact that he's evil. People think that he's not a scary villain, because of this, but that's exactly what's scary about him. The fact that he can manipulate people like that without batting an eye, and change his personality. People also complained that he's not smart enough, but not all bad guys have to be smart and meticulous. I found him interesting, because he was so short-tempered, vengeful, and totally insane.

The Humour - Like I said, I had mixed feelings about it. Although it felt out of place sometimes, I did appreciate it. Because I found the story boring, as well as the main character we followed, the humour ended up being the thing to keep me entertained, as well as some interesting characters. I especially liked the more subtle humour.

Character relationships - I liked some relationships between the characters. For example, the development of Vincenzo's relationship with the Plaza tenants, and how they started liking him the more they got to know him. I also like the slow development of Vincenzo's and Hong Cha Young's relationship. It felt realistic, and endearing, how they got closer to each other the more they've been through together. Everyone who interacted with each other at some point, ended up having visible chemistry, which is something I could enjoy.

Writing - Although the story felt recycled, I really liked the writing. It made each character's personality stand out. I especially enjoyed the metaphors and proverbs they would sprinkle in, at certain situations. It felt rewarding to be able to destroy the bad guy by being witty, and turning the script on them. The dialogue was clever, with quite a few call-backs, which I appreciated, as well as some entertaining references.

Overall, though, all the good points didn't save the drama for me. I just didn't find myself enjoying it like everyone else did and couldn't understand why everyone felt like this drama was so revolutionary (but now I think I know). It just feels like one of those moments where a basic drama gets over-hyped by everyone, and actual amazing and creative dramas will get overlooked, and will be underrated, because they don't have famous actors in it. Maybe I expected too much, because of how much praise this drama got, but I left disappointed. In 2021, I watched dramas with similar genres and tags to Vincenzo, which did way better in everything that Vincenzo lacked in. In the end, it was nothing special.

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Hard to watch

As much as this drama is filled w/ A list cast and A list supporting cast but the script itself its hard to like. The story started off intense with badass ML that even Italian Mafia can't mess with. Song Joong Ki's baby face wasn't exactly believable for the role but I still enjoy his acting. So as flames go up in ep 1 I am thinking K2 kind of drama coming up, hopefully he'll stop trying to speak Italian and just go into more action! Then came the over the top characters trying too hard to be funny. Most are just filler side characters that failed to be humorous at all. Maybe some people do enjoy this but the frequent switching back and forth between cool Vincenzo & idiotic forced humor really threw the whole drama off for me.

I love all the actors so I made myself watch through the drama however it was a struggle to be engaged in the drama. If they just stick to the story as an action drama instead of the absurd comedy nonsense it would've been a hit. My favorite part of the story is Jang Han Seo's character and the relationship developed between him & Vincenzo. Story deserves a redo!

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Started really good, but disappointing final quarter and a one dimensional male lead

I literally created this account just to put my thoughts about this drama, because it is really frustrating. First, imma start with good things about this drama(first half and third quarter)and what disappoints me about it. One are the villains, the villains of this drama are really unpredictable and intimidating, but as the story progress and reaches the final quarter, they become p**sier towards the male lead, especially Jun Woo. I really liked Jun Woo from first half of the story, he is so intimidating, but on the final quarter they made him so terrified towards the male lead and if you compare that to where his character started, he became really off character, I expected him to become Vincenzo's moral code breaker (more on that later, because that's the most disappointing part of this story). Two, the side characters and the female lead, the side characters(I'm talking about the Geumga plaza residents and that ISIA guy btw) they also started really good comedic aspects of the story. As for the female lead I really liked her, I think she is the only one who has a good character development, because at first she is really annoying and whiney(i don't hate her because of that btw) but as the story progress she became more likable. They all have a huge flaw, they all supports Vincenzo's killing, nobody even give a crap if he kills let alone they have government official on their side, and that leads to the most disappointing part of the story, Vincenzo himself. Vincenzo was a really likable guy I really loved how he was so unpredictable, but at the final quarter he became so frustrating, his character is so inconsistent, like you don't know who tf he is anymore. I really thought and expected that they will make his arc similar to Kenshin's character(Rurouni Kenshin anime), I thought they have the same premise because that made me wanna watch this drama, I expected it to be a story about an ex hitman who wants to change because murdering people is not actually what they wanted and it actually torments him by doing it, but wtf happened? Wtf is the point of Vincenzo's haunting nightmares about his past killing if he will going to kill a bunch of people at the final quarter of the story? On top of that the Geumga plaza residents and the female lead even praise him for killng, especially they literally have a f-ing high rank government official on their side and he doesn't give a damn if Vincenzo, a mafia murders people. I really really expected that Vincenzo's moral code(not killing anymore) will be the story's final conflict(and not that stupid and overused romance bs). We all know that Vincenzo is untouchable and unkillable they should've made Vincenzo's weakness is his moral code, and Jun Woo will be the one breaking it by making himself get killed by Vincenzo(like The dark knight's conflict). And also for the final note about Vincenzo's disappointing character he is one dimensional, he literally didn't change a bit, he started a murderer he ended up a murderer, he didn't clean or do anything good other than pleasing himself by killing people, and he even lied about changing after that final scene featuring that unnecessary kiss.

There's still some really good things that didn't disappoints me, but that is not enough to save this drama for me this. 5.5 out of 10 could be lower but whatever.

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