Vincenzo (2021)

I'm the mafia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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*Crazy, funny, dark, best of revenge !*

It had a lot more humor than I'd expected. The poster looks perfect, a really good choice to my taste but don't let it fool you.

What I liked the most ...
* romance it's not all over the place. It could ruin the show but it's nothing like that
* side characters are strong. You'll be surprised in each episode (Jang Han Seo, you'll have a special place in my memory)
* If you are willing to see, there are a few important life lessons. Like unity from strength, choices you made kind of thing etc. Which raises its rewatch value for me
*It is dark and humurous at the same time. One episode you want to rip your hair (or that character's lol) the next you have a huge smile on your face
* OST. IS. SO. COOL.

What could be more...
* a season 2 please!

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Amazing drama

Okay so I’ve been seeing a lot of negative reviews in here and although some do make sense I still find Vincenzo as a very good drama. The cast,ost,cinematography was perfect. The storyline was also great but honestly I found some of the geumga plaza tenants scenes a bit unnecessary but nevertheless it is funny and entertaining. Vincenzo was shown as as a ruthless revengeful mafia but slowly started to become more human and caring because of his partner and mother which was quite the beautiful character development. Song joong ki did an amazing job in potraying vincenzo, his acting is seriously so good. overall for me this is my #1 drama and I’ve rewatched it a couple of times but I’m still never bored of it. I really wish for a season 2 because the story is just so addicting and touching that you wanna see more of them! my favourite drama and recommended for watching to everyone who enjoys comedy,crime & slowburn romance ;)

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Purrrrfecto!

I'm not the kind of person who love watching dark comedy, or the mafia thing but this drama change my whole perception!

It started with a boring and cliche but starting from ep 4, you will start attach to them. You will laugh despite of suspense! Thank God the director make this drama funny and not serious all the time so that I will keep on sticking to my netflix.

The acting: All are superb. At first I watched because of Song Joong Ki but in the end I got crush with the 2nd lead syndrome. Song Joong Ki, we cannot denied that he is very good in acting but this Taecyeon, wow. I am really impressed with this guy. Really can't wait to see his next drama.

So as summary, the whole story is cool and perfect except for the ending. I don't really like how it ends but still this drama is sooo coooool! hands claps and bravo!

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Mafia Style

Wow I really enjoyed this series although it was long, but it was definitely different.

It had everything in it, humor was hilarious they were times i just killed myself with laughter the FL was totally awesome, especially everytime she did that little hop and skip when she was happy. And her comments and her little scarsctisc quirks were just on point. The were tears and sad moments, then were times when you were like what the hell is wrong with these people.

I especially liked the ML his cool demeanour and i dont care attitude was what made the series. His quick thinking and response to tackling a situation head on was truly amazing.

This series gives a whole different outlook to mafia style and also the godfather!

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Ambitious 'buddy cop'/mafia plot weighed down by its own ambitions . .

There are some truly creative, cinematic and eccentric scenes that will linger. But, the episodes are long, and the core theme repeats over and over. Eventually, I came to the point where watching caused boredom or needless tension from emotional whiplash between the absurd comedy and the violence. It was time to stop.

In our modern era of corruption, narcissism, greed and nihilism perhaps only death and destruction can change things around. Vincenzo is an intriguing character with an innocent surface, hiding an ease with violence and revenge. Cha-Young (female sidekick) is along for the ride experiencing the vicarious thrill of well-deserved retribution in action.

Music fits the mood, would not rewatch.

I grade on other criteria as well:

Complex Themes: 8.5
Psychopathic 'dark triad/tetrad' individuals and their enablers cause wide-spread destruction and havoc on society, violence may be the only effective answer. Some people are beyond redemption. Courage can be found in unlikely places.

Character Growth: 4
At least 3/4 the way through there really wasn’t any for Vincenzo or Cha-Young.

Complex women/Relationships: 5.5
Here we have a full blown female villain and a female co-hero with barely any romance elements. I liked that the female villain’s clothing, demeanour and temperament was dowdy and unassuming and how it could change in a split moment into something more sinister. Note: low points for not having much substantive interactions between women.

Cinematography/Production Values: 9.0
Really top notch, shooting in different styles, different angles. Lots of changing of scenery. Great fight scenes.

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Great performance by Song Joong Ki and Kim Sung Cheol (episode 8)

I absolutely love Song Joongki on this show... but then again, I love Song Joongki (SJK) in all his movies and dramas. But since watching episode 1 to the current episode 8, it is very clear that he is carrying most of the weight of this show. The 1st episode, the scene when he was in Italy was great. That was the 1st 10 minutes of EP. 1. The rest of EP 1 went downhill rapidly when he returned to Korea. Only the last 5 minutes was worth watching. In between, the show was filled with the most annoying characters - the noisy, irritating tenants of the building ("the Tenants") who are overacting in very silly slapstick scenes . The worst character is the female lead, who is overacting and extremely annoying. Both the female lead and the Tenants fail miserably at humour with their overacting - which is more suited for a variety show. It is surprising because the rest of the cast were good. Even the gangsters didn't overact and they executed their parts well. The cast from Wusang law firm were good and the Babel cast too (fake Chairman and real Chairman). It is hugely disappointing that the brilliant acting of SJK and enjoyable acting of the Babel cast, Wusang cast and Gangster cast were marred by the silly, overacting of the female lead and Tenants.
There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel - Episode 8 has redeemed the show. This episode focused mainly on SJK (the female lead faded to the background). All you need to do is fast forward and skip the scenes with the Tenants in Episode 8 in order to enjoy it. This episode focuses on SJK and Kim Sung Cheol. What a delight to watch SJK and Kim Sung Cheol (KSC) acting together. KSC's portrayal of his character was absolutely perfect. Because KSC's acting was brilliant, it made SJK's scenes with him such a delight to watch because SJK himself is brilliant throughout this drama. This is absolutely the best episode so far. There is hope yet for this drama, as long as they totally minimise the role of the Tenants and the female lead. At the very least they should drastically tone down the ridiculous overacting and silly slapstick antics of the Tenants and female lead. Yes, the genre is "dark comedy" but there is nothing funny at all in the way the Tenants and the female lead are portraying their characters. In fact, it is jarring on the nerves! Everyone else in the show are doing a good job to make this show enjoyable. And THANK YOU to Kim Sung Cheol for injecting a life-saving performance in this drama together with SJK. I am praying that the upcoming episodes have further delightful surprises like what we saw in Episode 8.

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Questo edificio è mio! Essa frase não vai sair da sua cabeça

Vincenzo é aquele tipo de série super hypada que nem sempre cai no gosto de todos. Por isso eu vou listar aqui os pontos positivos e negativos, assim você decide se combina com o seu estilo.

Pontos positivos:
Produção impecável
Logo no começo nota-se que essa série tinha orçamento e que eles não pouparam em aproveitar os recursos para trazer um conteúdo de qualidade para os espectadores.

Casting
Não sei como eles conseguiram reunir um casting tão bom! Todos os atores nessa série são veteranos e desempenharam muito bem os seus papéis. Vale destacar que o Song Joong-Gi ficou perfeito no papel do mafioso bonzinho, mas na minha opinião a grande revelação foi o Taec Yoon, ele deu um show.

Trilha sonora
A trilha sonora se encaixa perfeitamente com a série e ajuda a construir a ambientação.

Pontos negativos
Episódios muito longos
A maioria dos episódios tem 1h20min de duração e algumas vezes fica um pouco cansativo para assistir. Embora o conteúdo seja interessante em alguns momentos ele poderia ter sido encurtado e ainda oferecer a mesma qualidade para a história.

Um pouco forçado
Particularmente eu não sou fã de conteúdos muito forçados que beiram o impossível, então, por mais que eu ache que a história foi bem construída, que as reviravoltas são inteligentes, em alguns momentos as soluções encontradas beiraram o impossível, quase parecendo uma série de super heróis.

Minha opinião final: a série é boa para passar o tempo, mas é um pouco "pastelão", então eu sugiro intercalar com outra série, pois pode ficar cansativo maratonar Vincenzo. Eu gostei de ver, me divertiu, mas não amei.

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Not Over Hyped nor over rated!!!!!! I Loved it.

I watched Vincenzo when It was airing and it was so exciting. Each weekend I got my laptop and my speakers to watch and have a blast. The episodes were a roller coaster of emotions, you could be laughing, then shed a few tears, then get angry, cringe and even feel disappointed. This drama just had me in my feeling. through the week I would watch back my favourite scenes or even rewatch an episode.
All the actors were great in their respective roles.
Acting
1. Vincenzo (Song Joong-ki) had so many different sides to him and his eyes would especially bring out these different sides of him. He could be scary mafia dude, but cute and romantic hubby, he could be silly. His face just always showed what mood or character he was portraying.

2. Hoong Cha-young (Jeon Yeo-been) executed her role just how she was supposed to be. A shameless lawyer who would do anything to win. She made me laugh , cringe and sad throughout the show.

3. Jang Jun Woo (Ok Taecyeon) the first half of the show he nailed his innocent clueless intern role to a T. But then he was the vilian and also that spoiled rich little boy who liked to smash and destroyed what he could not have or control.

4. Choi Myung-hee (Kim YTeo-jin) I hated her so much each episode I was just wishing she would be killed how cruel she was and how she could just order people to be killed just like that then sit to eat or dance. Because of this I think she did a fantastic job.
The Tenants - they were so selfish at times, but then each one of them ended up showing how useful they were and that they were worth fighting for in their own little way. I especially liked Tak Hong-shik, Mr. Nam and Seo Mi Ri out of all the tenants. Mr Tak, because when he stated to fight with his scissors; Mr. Nam for his awkward, adorable and usefulness and Miss Seo because she was just this weird piano player but then bam Top Hacker extraordinaire.

This show had a little bit of everything, comedy, action, angst, subtle romance. It dealt with trust, family, loyalty, fairness in the society and the legal system, cooperation and so much more.
Give the drama a try you either love it or hate it. You might think it's average and that just fine.

All dramas are not made equal and everyone does not need to like everything.

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The Great Gatsby meets Mafia

The thing I liked most about this drama was the complicated characters. The demarcation between the good guys and the bad guys was blurry, and you find yourself questioning why you're rooting for who you're rooting for. As the drama goes on, you get to see the characters develop and question their choices and grapple with the past and future. This drama reminds me of The Great Gatsby because of the complex and muddy characters, but Vincenzo takes this theme to the next level with Mafia tactics and high stakes.
If you are someone who only enjoys lighthearted dramas with straightforward themes (and there's nothing wrong with that), then this one might not be for you. But if you're someone who likes to think a lot while you watch your dramas, then you might like this one.

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