All spectacle, Less Substance.
This drama had an interesting premise. Not only that, it had a good star-studded cast. It's just that I felt that this drama was overrated.
Before I lay out the issues I had with this drama, I'm going to start with what I enjoyed. I enjoyed the cinematography of this drama from start to finish.
There were also episodes that spark creativity. One episode was when it opened with the painting of the French Revolution. Then, the whole episode was built around it and it comedically culminated in the characters of the drama doing a paint-me-a-picture of the said painting.
Now, I get down to the issues.
First is perhaps the most minute of them all. For me, Soong Joong Ki doesn't really strike me as a consigliere who experienced a lot from the mafia because he looks... too clean... and soft... This is just personal preference but hey.
Second was how it wanted to be serious and not serious at the same time. This leads to a very confusing mix of genres. As other reviewers have pointed out, these two elements didn't really work together. The comedy kills the seriousness that this drama has while the gory and violent scenes kills the comedy. When balanced well, it could lead to a good drama. In Vincenzo, the tone is a confusing mess.
The third problem I had was how shallowly written the characters in this drama were. This became more obvious when I watched the screenwriter's other work, the Fiery Priest which had better-written characters. Characterization was where a lot of the missed opportunities that this drama had.
First, is with Hong Cha Yeong, her father's death could've been an interesting point for her character to grow but she gets sidelined into sometimes an obnoxious FL as the focus has been on the titular ML. Knowing her character can be something more, this is why I am not buying into the fanservice thrown by the drama as I don't see the point of it story-wise despite it being eye-candy for the audience. For me, it feels forced.
The second one is with this show's villains. Taecyeon's character was introduced to be a cunning and cruel psychopath and it was good until he revealed himself. I was expecting for him to be an active villain but he was more of a passive, spoiled brat who doesn't take part in the scheming of bringing Vincenzo down and instead leaves it all on the female prosecutor-turned-attorney of Wusang and complain that when the schemes fail.
The fourth issue, while minor, I had with this drama is when they tried to lighten up Vincenzo's character when they tried to introduce an animal companion, the scenes end up cringey. Though, I kinda like how it got concluded though it seemed ridiculous.
If you want a popcorn drama that has little struggles to offer its protragonists, has spectacle, the actors that you like seeing onscreen without having to think deep into the plot, you might like this drama.
Before I lay out the issues I had with this drama, I'm going to start with what I enjoyed. I enjoyed the cinematography of this drama from start to finish.
There were also episodes that spark creativity. One episode was when it opened with the painting of the French Revolution. Then, the whole episode was built around it and it comedically culminated in the characters of the drama doing a paint-me-a-picture of the said painting.
Now, I get down to the issues.
First is perhaps the most minute of them all. For me, Soong Joong Ki doesn't really strike me as a consigliere who experienced a lot from the mafia because he looks... too clean... and soft... This is just personal preference but hey.
Second was how it wanted to be serious and not serious at the same time. This leads to a very confusing mix of genres. As other reviewers have pointed out, these two elements didn't really work together. The comedy kills the seriousness that this drama has while the gory and violent scenes kills the comedy. When balanced well, it could lead to a good drama. In Vincenzo, the tone is a confusing mess.
The third problem I had was how shallowly written the characters in this drama were. This became more obvious when I watched the screenwriter's other work, the Fiery Priest which had better-written characters. Characterization was where a lot of the missed opportunities that this drama had.
First, is with Hong Cha Yeong, her father's death could've been an interesting point for her character to grow but she gets sidelined into sometimes an obnoxious FL as the focus has been on the titular ML. Knowing her character can be something more, this is why I am not buying into the fanservice thrown by the drama as I don't see the point of it story-wise despite it being eye-candy for the audience. For me, it feels forced.
The second one is with this show's villains. Taecyeon's character was introduced to be a cunning and cruel psychopath and it was good until he revealed himself. I was expecting for him to be an active villain but he was more of a passive, spoiled brat who doesn't take part in the scheming of bringing Vincenzo down and instead leaves it all on the female prosecutor-turned-attorney of Wusang and complain that when the schemes fail.
The fourth issue, while minor, I had with this drama is when they tried to lighten up Vincenzo's character when they tried to introduce an animal companion, the scenes end up cringey. Though, I kinda like how it got concluded though it seemed ridiculous.
If you want a popcorn drama that has little struggles to offer its protragonists, has spectacle, the actors that you like seeing onscreen without having to think deep into the plot, you might like this drama.
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