What happens when a Mafia consigliere returns to his motherland, discovers that a ruthless corporation has taken over the building he wants, and then thinks that plain justice is inadequate? You get Vincenzo K-Drama.
Here is a drama about justice in Italian suits, with an almost sinister amount of charm and a tendency to bend the law as he sees fit.
With Song Joong Ki as Vincenzo Cassano, Jeon Yeo Been as Hong Cha Young, and Ok Taec Yeon as Jang Jun Woo/Jang Han Seok, Vincenzo is a crime, comedy, action, and revenge drama that does genre work. It can crack you up with the silliest of situations. It can also stop you in your tracks with jarring and almost clinical violence.
For me, the reason Vincenzo works as a drama is because it does not end at defeating villains. It is about watching someone who does not live by society’s rules find someone worth protecting and watching him deliver his own version of justice.
And mostly, Vincenzo himself is the biggest and most important reason this drama is almost impossible to forget.
Vincenzo Kdrama Plot Overview
Vincenzo Cassano isn’t your typical Korean drama protagonist.
He is intelligent, calculated, sophisticated, intimidating, and very comfortable with the darker side of the world. As a Mafia consigliere, he doesn’t exactly believe in playing fair. When he returns to South Korea, his main objective is connected to Geumga Plaza, a building hiding something extremely valuable beneath it.
Unfortunately, the building has already attracted the attention of Babel Group, a conglomerate willing to use its wealth and influence to get what it wants. That puts Vincenzo on a collision course with people who are accustomed to getting away with everything.
Enter Hong Cha Young, a lawyer who is just as determined to win as Vincenzo is. She is ambitious, sharp-tongued, unpredictable, and absolutely not interested in following the traditional definition of a good lawyer.
Their partnership is one of the most entertaining aspects of the drama.
Neither Vincenzo nor Cha Young approaches problems normally. When conventional methods fail, they are more than willing to become creative. And sometimes their idea of “creative” is completely outrageous.
The plot gradually expands from a personal battle into a much larger fight against corruption, greed, power, and people who believe money can protect them from consequences.
What makes the story especially enjoyable is its unpredictability. Just when the situation seems to be moving in one direction, the drama can completely change the game.
There are revenge schemes, courtroom battles, criminal conspiracies, action sequences, unexpected alliances, betrayals, and plenty of moments where I genuinely wondered what the writers could possibly come up with next.
And then there is Geumga Plaza.
The residents initially seem like comic relief, but they eventually become one of the emotional foundations of the story. Their eccentric personalities and chaotic energy give Vincenzo its heart.
Vincenzo Cast and Performances
Vincenzo Cassano – Song Joong Ki
Let’s start with the obvious. Vincenzo Cassano is the centre of your interest in this drama.
Keeping all of Song Joong Ki’s notes in mind, Vincenzo’s character does need to be intimidating without being emotionless, charming without being cheesy, funny without losing his dangerous aura, and ruthless without losing the audience.
He pulls it off. It’s hard not to notice Vincenzo’s charisma.
One of the things that draws audiences in is watching Vincenzo walk into a room, totally calm and composed, while everyone else is completely frazzled. It doesn’t hurt that he has some great Italian-inspired mannerisms and fashion, all of which he pairs with a great sense of humour and a really fun personality.
These elements of contrast are what make the show. Vincenzo can be totally composed and even hilarious one moment and next completely scary and ominous.
Vincenzo’s character development is also great and really emotional, and it grounds the story in something really compelling. Behind all this is a character with a lot of feelings about a lot of personal subject matters of belonging, family, loyalty and his connection to his country.
He arrives thinking primarily about his own objectives. Eventually, Geumga Plaza people become his people. And that change matters.
Hong Cha Young – Jeon Yeo Been
Hong Cha Young is the type of female lead I enjoy. Her characterisation does not involve her standing by the male lead waiting to be saved. Cha Young is portrayed as smart, goal-orientated, clever, confident and someone who is not in any way weaker than Vincenzo.
What is enjoyable about Cha Young’s and Vincenzo’s characters is that there is no flashing instant chemistry.
They progress in their relationship based on trust, positions, adventures, and understanding of the lengths they are prepared to go to in order to serve and protect their purposes, respectively.
Cha Young is better portrayed by Jeon Yeo-Been, as she brings the energy that counters Song Joong-ki’s composed energy. Their contrasting personalities make their scenes work.
Vincenzo is usually composed. Cha Young can be absolutely unhinged. Put them together and you get some of the drama’s funniest moments.
At the same time, their partnership develops naturally, and I appreciated that the drama allowed their relationship to grow alongside the larger revenge story.
Jang Jun Woo / Jang Han Seok – Ok Taec Yeon
One surprise for me was Ok Taec Yeon’s Jang Jun Woo/Jang Han Seok. The villain storyline’s intrigue for me was the character’s physical changes.
What at face value seems like easily explainable and benign character traits actually has something else hiding behind it. Taec Yeon does a great job with that contrast.
It feels uneasy and uncomfortable to witness a character exhibit unassuming behaviour and then disturbing behaviour.
He is the kind of antagonist that you want to see get defeated. Not necessarily because of what he does, but also due to his overconfident attitude and extreme obnoxiousness.
Choi Myung Hee – Kim Yeo Jin
Choi Myung Hee deserves special mention because she is such an entertainingly infuriating antagonist. Kim Yeo Jin plays her with an energy that makes it impossible to ignore her whenever she appears.
Myung Hee is ambitious, manipulative, and willing to bend morality to serve her interests. Yet the character is also given an almost bizarre comedic quality at times.
That combination makes her memorable. She isn’t simply a cold, emotionless villain. Her strange personality and unpredictable behaviour make her scenes stand out.
Jang Han Seo – Kwak Dong Yeon
Jang Han Seo was another character who gradually became much more interesting than I initially expected. Kwak Dong Yeon’s performance brings vulnerability and complexity to the character, especially as his circumstances change.
His journey adds an emotional layer to the otherwise revenge-heavy storyline.
There are moments when the character’s situation becomes genuinely heartbreaking, and his evolving relationship with Vincenzo is one of the relationships I found particularly meaningful.
The Geumga Plaza Family
The ensemble cast deserves enormous credit. The Geumga Plaza residents could easily have become irritating comic-relief characters, but instead they become part of what makes Vincenzo so charming.
Their eccentricity creates some of the funniest scenes in the drama, but over time, they also begin to feel like an unconventional family.
That is important because Vincenzo isn’t only about Mafia revenge. It is also about finding people who become your home.
Vincenzo K-Drama Review: Themes, Cinematography & OST
Revenge and Justice
At its core, Vincenzo K-Drama asks an interesting question:
What happens when the people responsible for enforcing justice are themselves corrupt?
The drama doesn’t present a traditional hero who always follows the rules. Instead, Vincenzo operates according to his own moral code.
He knows that the world isn’t fair, and he isn’t interested in pretending otherwise. That makes the revenge storyline particularly satisfying.
The drama allows the villains to become victims of the very kind of manipulation and fear they have inflicted on others. And because Vincenzo is so clever, watching his plans unfold becomes part of the fun.
Dark Comedy
I believe the dark comedy is what makes this drama stand out among the rest.
Being able to take a serious situation, like murder, and create comedic value is rarely pulled off without losing the severity of the situation and is something this show handles exceptionally well.
Most of the comedy is generated by the residents of Geumga Plaza, as well as the absurdity of the situations, the characters’ overreactions and the plans of the inhabitants of the plaza.
There were plenty of moments where I burst out laughing at things that I thought would never be funny. Maintaining that type of balance is not easy, but this show manages to incorporate its comedy in a way that feels organic and part of the show, as opposed to random scenes of relief between serious scenes.
Action & Unexpected Twists
Like the character of Vincenzo himself, the introduction of action scenes shows a level of character development.
These action scenes also serve to bring a level of entertainment to this show. He’s more than a manipulative lawyer. He’s a lawyer with a dangerous past and a threat backer.
Thus, he is exceptionally well thought out and not just another character of his kind added in for spectacle. And then there are the twists.
The drama contains a series of revelations that rapidly change my understanding of a given situation and a character. The drama doesn’t always go by the audience’s expectations, and that is great because it surprises the audience and keeps the audience on its toes, just when the audience thinks they finally got it figured out, there is an additional layer added.
Cinematography
Vincenzo is aesthetically pleasing. The drama balances the Italian Vincenzo and the Geumga Plaza chaos with the use of concrete and absurdism.
The drama uses locations, costumes, lighting and framing. He looks like he just stepped out of an expensive crime film.
His appearances, suits and controlled body language are some of his personality. The cinematography works well when Vincenzo gets his revenge.
The style of the cinematography changes to a more intense and dramatic style. The darker revenge scenes balance the cinematography well.
Vincenzo K-drama: Overall Thoughts
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
It is easily the most entertaining thing I watched last year. The Vincenzo K-Drama has so many different things that you wouldn’t expect: crime, revenge, action, comedy, romance, corruption, family, and suspense.
Through it all, Vincenzo ties everything together. Song Joong Ki has charisma and charm that gets you invested in his character and makes it nearly impossible to look away. He’s got humour, his roles always give him some pretty sweet action moments, he’s got great facial expressions, he’s got great fashion sense, and his more reserved persona adds to Vincenzo being one of the best K-drama protagonists I’ve seen.
Then there is Hong Cha Young. Vincenzo and Hong Cha Young have some of the best chemistry in this show that gives the plot another layer.
Then you’ve got the great cast of villains, too. They are almost gotten rid of in such satisfying/enraging ways that you almost know you’re going to have ‘that’ feeling when you see those revenge scenes. Sure, the plot is predictable, but that doesn’t stop the fact that this show keeps you on your toes because of the unexpected twists and turns.
I’d even go so far as to say the Geumga Plaza family is one of the better things about the show. They bring some funny, over-the-top scenes to a show that could easily be dipped in black darkness. That is balanced out by Vincenzo, and that’s really the key to enjoying the show.
That balance is what makes Vincenzo so enjoyable.
If you’re looking for a K-drama with a traditional romantic storyline as its sole focus, this may not be the drama for you. But if you want revenge, morally grey characters, dark comedy, action, clever schemes, unpredictable twists, memorable villains, and a charismatic male lead, I would absolutely recommend it.
Have you watched Vincenzo? Which moment, character, revenge plan, or scene was your favourite? Did Vincenzo become one of your favourite K-drama characters too, or did another character steal the show for you?
Share your thoughts in the comments, we would love to know what you thought about this beautifully chaotic Mafia revenge story!
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