One of the most memorable shows with the most memorable titular character!
Bellasimo! Bravo! - Words I want to say as I clap while the end credits roll. Although I shall try to be as unbiased as I can while I review this because as memorable or entertaining the show was, there were also some okay-ish parts which need to be mentioned.The story is quite gripping, the premise one of a kind, the execution quite good and the pacing well done. I had my doubts when I learned that this was a 20 episode show, as I tend to lose my patience (or the shows just keep dragging on) post the 16th episode. But the storyline was engaging all along. Okay, maybe, I wouldn't say it was engaging ALL the time, but 90% of the time. I just found myself lost a little in the multitude of subplots or the portions about the ensemble support cast. That being said, I really enjoyed all the characters! It was evident that a lot of time and effort has gone into writing each and every character, no matter how small their part may be! You get acquainted with all the characters you're watching. It was fascinating how I found myself thinking from the characters' POV after a point because I've been made aware of what the character might think or do. This was brilliantly done by the writers.
Kudos to the actors as well, as they brought to life all these dynamic characters. I truly loved the good(but also bad) guys and loathed the truly bad(and definitely heinous) guys. If it would be a crime to gush about Song Joong Ki right now, I plead guilty because this man is a heart(scene) stealer through and through. I could almost hear the collective screams of all the fans (new and old) when I was watching his most stellar scenes. He was *ChefsKiss* This was the first time I've seen Jeon Yeo Bin and I was IMPRESSED. Definitely looking up other works of hers. She gave a very memorable performance as well! The whole cast did an incredible job in my opinion.
I've mentioned quite a few things I enjoyed in the show, now to mention the parts that stopped me giving it a perfect ten:
1. Weak plot links every 3-4 episodes.
2. As much as I loved watching the Cassano Geumga Family members on screen for 20 hours. I wouldn't have minded if was concised to 16/18 hours.
3. Too many deaths after a point of time to ignore. I mean, I get that we were shown the real and ruthless side of the consigliere Vincenzo that wasn't prominent in the earlier episodes but it wasn't just him doing this. The people from plaza (and a govt. agent) were on it ALL THE TIME. It got a little weird if I thought about it too much, so to be honest, I stopped thinking about it at length and moved on.
4. There are so many ridiculous moments that make no sense but I just swallowed the "It's a K-Drama" pill and I was good to go for the next couple of episodes.
Now that we've addressed the elephant in the room, let me summarize the experience I had while watching this show. The show was definitely a class apart, and one that will stand out for a long, long time for its production, story, cast and quality. It's well-written (for the most part), well paced, well acted, well directed - essentially well made. The last show which brought such quality vibes was Crash Landing On You. God, that CGI! And now that I've typed it, there really are many other similarities in the shows as well, but let's skip that. Nevertheless, the characters of Vincenzo are definitely memorable, and several scenes are already replaying in my head as well!
I truly hope this show serves as a benchmark for future works in terms of quality and attention to details. There's a lot that could have been better, but there's more that deserves praise and acknowledgement. I'll surely revisit this world of Vincenzo to relive a lot of impressively written scenes.
Give it a definite try, but do not watch it with astronomical expectations because of the ratings. Also, the viewing experience gets tenfolds better once you stop trying to reason and analyze everything more than it needs to be. It is after all, a drama, written for entertainment purposes - which the show does, and does quite well.
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I'll miss the gang!
If you've managed to make a cast consisting of around 20 people memorable to me, then you're doing something good. The thing that I thoroughly enjoyed in this drama is how the friendship and trust build up through the episodes slowly but surely. I was a little comprehensive, agitated even, at some of the tenants of the plaza in the early part but they won me over and that negative emotion eventually turned to happiness whenever I see them together.More than the acting, I would like to commend the script and the direction. I like how serious and dark it is when needed and then it will just suddenly blow you with a comic scene where the humor is spot-on and the execution is flawless. That isn't very easy to do (Welcome to Waikiki comes to mind but that show was purely comical). The lines/script isn't cringe-y or trope-y, and evokes just the right emotion. A little let-down was the last episode though where we were punched with a lot of very cliched tropes, but I guess it's hard to maintain perfection when the first 18 episodes were perfect.
Acting-wise, all of them are experienced actor which is why it's noticeable how Taecyeon is a little bit lacking. I had some scenes where I found it funny instead of feeling scared or fearful and some where the other cast took my attention when he's supposed to be the focus, hopefully he can improve in his next projects. I've been rooting for Kwak Dongyeon since Love in the Moonlight so I'm glad this show was able to provide a boost to his popularity. I hope he hits it big soon, he doesn't deserve to be the pitiful second lead anymore. All in all, I loved the ensemble cast so I hope everybody will achieve great things in the years to come! It was truly a fun 2 months with Vincenzo!
As a bonus: the cast collaborated with Na PD for The Game Caterers and it was soooo funny (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML9E33z2jJ0). The died during the Shout in Silence of the monks. I think I will be watching out for Kwon Seungwoo (Monk Chaeshin)!
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More Afraid of the ML and FL than the story villain
Story: Awesome!They will leave you wanting for more. I keep waiting for the evil plan which our ML will execute handsomely.
There were points in the story that I pity our real story villains, why? They are so helpless.
Absolutely, the Vicenzo guy is on another dimensional level compared to them. They are just a corrupt company headed by a psychopath.
Like, duhh you shouldn't messed up with Vincenzo in the first place cause they are no match.
Really, in the last episode I pity Babo. He's mentally sick and lost, I don't know if that's really what he deserves. I wished they have portrayed the reason why Babo is mentally ill and have visualized him more as a total asshole, Babo didn't even hit the FL in the last episode when he abducted her, I wonder why.
He should have hit her, hurt her , he was even confused when he realized that his bullet went through the girl, I was so confused by that. I am gratified in is death, but questioning.
Acting:
Song Joong Ki : Nailed it!
Chemistry: Just perfect for the theme
Comedy: Fun but sometimes I feel out of sync, some of the comedy where OA... Like I am watching a stage play. Specially the playing piano girl...bagging her head and hair from left to right.
Music:
Perfect
Rewatch Value:
100% Especially when Vincenzo shoot the guy who have killed his mom. WOw, that scene, it's perfect. His face, the anger, the anguish. Song Joong Ki, Just wow, he can be cute sometimes, deadly sometimes.
Overall: It was really nice. I seldom watched a drama that I would finish. but Vincenzo? I have watched every episode. I even replayed some. That's how I like it.
Thanks for this wonderful drama. 2021.
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Mindblowing drama with bittersweet ending
HI guy if u going to watch this show then go for it.its amazing cast and story line.full package of drama,comedy,crime nd slow romance.every cast members did their best .I bet u fall for the main cast they are super cute and perfect bonding no break up drama or typical love triangle they love each other nd accept each other who they really are they don't try to change each main lead was from mafia but it's never bothered main female lead she support him because she love nd trust him .The only thing that's disappointed me was ending of the Drama it's not sad ending but it's not totally happy ending either they love each other they don't break up but still can't live together because main lead has to return to Italy for his mafia work nd only come to Korea secretly to meet her because in Korea people are looking for him nd he can't leave Italy for long but she goes to Italy when ever she want .actually ending shows us real world of mafia relationship with common girl so it's acceptable because ml get trust nd find true love that he never expected
So all in it's bitter sweet ending but I hope they come with season 2 because many of thing is unsettled in drama like gold (the mAin reason for v for coming Korea) people looking for him ,his lady love just hope they make season 2 or they come together in other projects with same cast
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The dark and hunky Cornsalad
"Vincenzo" One of the best K-drama i have ever loved in 2021 after Love alarm 2. A dark story with a whole new level of mixture.First of all Hats off to the Director and producer for giving us such an entertaining story line with more life related quotes. Even though the story is dark and evil based but it provided us with some advice and optimistic ideas..
"You shouldn't let your yearning turns into regret"
"Don't let their social status to intimidate you. Be strong and act like you're their equal."
etc.. I don't wanna provide spoilers anymore.
So Let's jump into acting skills (my point of view).
First lets talk about uri Cornsalad - Vincenzo Cassano :)..
Handsome with classy high-fi look with " If you are bad then I am your dad" kinda attitude. You can see such kinda Best handsome sexy mafia only in television. 90% dark yet 5% Angelic side. 4% romantic and 1% funny..
"Only evil can punish evil"..
Acting: 9
Hong cha young:
She is bit quirky, talented, funky and too cheeky.. Tends to overeact.. I personally loved her attitude.. WAY TO GO GIRL... She is 80% Cheeky and talented 5% evil and 15% Angelic side..
Acting: 9.5
Jang Han-seok:
Pyschopath dressed as naive, happy go lucky Intern... OK Taec-yeon done a very good job as Pscychopath. Well am impressed by the acting skill.. You are evil but you cant be compared with our Cornsalad in terms of being evil.. I recommend you to take tuition from Cassano on "How to be evil?"... LOL... 95% dark 5% afraid of our cornsalad's vengeful tactics....
Acting: 9.5
Inzaghi:
I never thought of becoming a fan of Inzaghi but i am now.... yayyyy...... 99% Angelic side.. 1% annoying to our cornsalad...
Acting: 10 :)
Choi myung-hee:
Bitch who never learns... no more comments.. 90% evil 10% fear of Cassano's vengeful tactics on killing...
Acting:10
Jang han-seo:
A puppet and half-brother of Han-seok but he loved Cassano as his own brother.. He gave "Hansung's vibe from Hwarang".. "You did great.. You definetely fit to be Cassano's brother"...
Acting:9.5
Cassano Geumga family:
No words to say.. lol.... Funny but trustworthy... i love them all....
Acting:9
Thank you guys... Am gonna watch it again n again........
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Vigilantism with a big dose of cheesy comedy
LIKES:Cinematography (scene locations), colour pallet and fighting choreography was all very well done. Production was good (they thankfully knew how to use a film stabilizer.
Editing and directing for the most part was good too.
Most of the special effects (gore) was pretty good.
The violence and gore, with some creative moments, were good.
Casting was excellent as all the actors & actresses were well selected for their roles.
Just enough romance to satisfy any viewer.
Enjoyed Vincenzo being both the “good gangster” and the cold blooded mafioso.
I did like the creativity in the deaths of certain characters.
Ending was concluded well enough for all the main and supporting characters.
Decent OST, but sometimes the music was too loud and it made it hard to hear the actors/actresses speaking.
DISLIKES:
Too much comedy and some of it was just plain stupid.
The main evil boss was more sociopath, than psychopath, writers didn’t do enough research. The bad/evil characters were so predictable and typical.
Not really a crime drama or law drama, strange kind of mash up with heavy cheesy comedy.
The characters trying to pronounce Vincenzo’s name, wasn’t funny and got annoying fast.
Too many supporting characters or side characters, which made the plot get bogged down.
A lot of filler scenes that were pushed on us as being law, court and crime related, to show how bad or good the characters could be. It just made the show a little too long.
It’s more about being a vigilante than a mafia gangster and it constantly flip flops on who’s the lesser evil.
OVERALL:
Birds of a feather flock together was a strong theme throughout, both literally and figuratively. Better than some of the kdramas of 2021, but still lacking and a bit over hyped. I would recommend it and I have watched it again (but did fast forward over a many parts). Not what I expected, but didn’t disappoint me like it did for others.
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A drama you would never forget
Everything about this drama is amazing. Ive never seen such an amazing drama in my life. All the actors were amazing and there acting and chemistry was amazing...except the english actors were a lil.. well anyway they only appeared for like 10 minutes so it doesnt really matter. You really feel for the characters and I even got very attached to them even after the show. Watching this show was the best decision ever. The comedy all on point mixed in with the very dark stuff its so balanced and well done. I give a big applause to the antagonist and the antagonists brother, to me these two really shined and I loved watching them so much there acting is so on point and their characters are so unbelievably deep. In conclusion, do not hesitate to watch this series. I does have very long episodes but there was never one that was ever boring or slow it was all done soooo well.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Bravo! Everyone!
Bravo! to director Park Jae Bu, whose memorable camera shots I'll never forget.Bravo! to screenwriter Kim Hee Won, who gave us some unforgettable lines that Vincenzo said, especially at the end of episode 20.
Bravo! The classical music in the background which added a lot of depth to the scenes.
Bravo! Song Joong-Ki for his unforgettable performance as a mafioso. His face is still imprinted in my brain.
Brava! Jeon Yeo Bin for giving us an unusual performance throughout the series from a pugnacious to a more understanding one.
Bravo! Ok Taec Yeon who gave us an unbelievable psycho performance with those mischievous eyes of his.
Bravo! Kwak Dong Yeon who gave us an incredible acting job from start to finish
Bravo! All the supporting cast, who gave us the richness we all enjoyed.
And finally Bravo! to Netflix for giving us all a special opportunity to watch Vincenzo.
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The Best Kdrama I’ve Watched
The ratings and viewings did not lie. I saw some negative comments but I think they have no taste or just haters and bitters. Vincenzo just captured hearts that it is the first kdrama that is so hard to let go. It made my weekend nights so happy. Every episode is so packed with everything you want. The chemistry of the casts are beyond perfect. And lastly, the slow burn love story is the best romance story in kdrama world. Not to mention the Best Kiss.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Perfect mix of dark drama and comedy
Vincenzo is a unique series that mixes comedy and dark drama to make something truly entertaining. It gave me a balance between laugh out loud moments, moments I had to cry, and moments that were exciting and action packed.Each side was making moves like a chess game and everyone had a plan to surprise viewers.
I loved the friendship amongst the group of residents at the plaza and the main characters. They quickly hop in the help Vincenzo because of how much they love him and the Hong family.
I saw some reviews where they didn’t love the comedy, and honestly, it comes down to personal taste. I personally LOVED it. The contrast between the gloomy dramatics and the ridiculous comedy, fan service, and characters like the chef was refreshing. If you want a drama that is realistic in humor and plot, this isn’t for you.
I will say that some of the violence was over done and there are story lines the drama could have really emphasized and explored. I wanted to see more of Vincenzo’s personal relationships, personal development, and more about his time in Italy. But I’m giving this drama a 10/10 because it was truly a unique and thrilling experience from beginning to end.
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What?
I started this before and dropped it at three episodes but i thought maybe the was something wrong with me, my state of mind, or something. So i gave it some time and tried again. This time i got farther-- episode six-- but now I'm going to permanently give up.I don't know how this could get such high ratings. The plot is absurd. Why would he fight so hard to keep this building? Just move the gold, which is what they end up doing anyway...
The acting was pretty bad. I love Song Joongki, but the character gave him nothing but deadpan looks and flat emotions to play with. Deadly and tough is great but it gets pretty dull after a few episodes. The actor that played the father of the FL was great and i liked the lead gang guy with the curly hair, but that was pretty much it for good acting. Everyone else was just so overplayed or dull.
It went out of its way to make SJK look cool but without the emotion to back it up, there's just no soul to it. With such flat characters, it really needed a great plot to keep you interested but it didn't have that either.
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