Title: Vincenzo 빈센조
Genre: Comedy, Law, Crime, Romantic Comedy
Release: 2021
Starring (Main Cast):
Song Joong Ki as Vincenzo Cassano/ Park Joo Hyung
Jeon Yeo Bin as Hong Cha Young
Ok Taec Yeon as Jang Jun Woo
Director: Kim Hee Won
Writer: Park Jae Bum
IMDb Rating: 8.5/10
Audience Rating: 4.9/5
MyDramaList Rating: 9.0/10
MyDramaList Synopsis: Click Here
Watch with subscription on Netflix: Vincenzo
Episodes: 20 (abt. 1 hour and 20 min each)
Content Rating: TV-14
Violence: High - fist fighting, shooting, guns, blood, strangling, knives, stabbing, drowning, falling, burning, torture, death
Sexual Content: Mild - kissing, hugging, references
Language: Moderate - there is some swearing
Ending: Satisfying, Open-ended
My Synopsis
When Park Joo Hyung (Song Joong Ki) was 8 years old, he was adopted out of Korea into a family in Italy. Fast forward to the present, past the circumstances of his growing up years, and we find him grown and a famous consigliere to the Italian Mafia. His name... Vincenzo Cassano. When a client ends up dead (leaving him one of the only people who knows of his gold stash) and other unfavorable conditions for him occur in Italy, Vincenzo heads to South Korea. However, when he arrives he finds the building that hides the gold stash to be inhabited by a strange group of people, and with no way to safely open the vault. The killing of the innocent goes against his principles so he seeks to find a way to move the inhabitants and get the gold. But, things aren't as easy as they seem. When a Korean pharmaceutical company called Babel Group suddenly steals the ownership of Vincenzo's plaza it begins a war. Pairing up with a woman, Hong Cha Young (Jeon Yeo Bin), who also seeks revenge on Babel Group, they begin to uncover the horrific secret sins of its owner and head chairman. Things become much more than just about the gold. Vincenzo and Cha Young find themselves in a literal race between life and death. Can they expose Babel group and its evil leader before they both end up dead?
Trailer
My Review: 9.5/10
To start off, there were some things about this drama that I did not expect. First, for some reason, I did not realize this was a comedy. After/during episode one... I was like, whaaaaattt??? Lol! Okay. Second, though I knew there would be violence, it was a lot more violent and bloody than I expected. Third, I thought there would be more romance. I will go into that later. I guess, the clips I have seen about this gave me a little bit different impression before I started watching. So, I suggest going into this realizing that there are a lot of things that happen that are unrealistic. I will quote a character line from this drama that sums it up.... "If this happened in a drama, people would say it is unrealistic." Yes, that was a line in the drama. Haha! When I think about this drama and the plot issues and so on, I feel like I shouldn't have liked this as much as I have. It reminded me some of Strong Woman Do Bong Soon in the way that it mixed some serious silliness with some serious seriousness. But, I feel this drama did it better and didn't quite get as low as slapstick (Thank God!). During this, I found myself unable to hold back my laughter. And then at times, found it difficult to hold back my tears. Against my logical reasoning, I couldn't help but like, and maybe even love, this drama.
Main Characters
Vincenzo Cassano/ Park Joo Hyung
Vincenzo Cassano was played by the popular actor Song Joon Ki. I can't help but feel like this guy has the Midas touch when it comes to dramas/movies. The great majority of his works have rated high with this drama currently leading the ratings. Personally, I have seen him in two other works, the first being Descendants of the Sun, and the second Space Sweepers. Both of these I felt were incredibly well done. He is an enjoyable actor to watch and has proven his abilities time and time again. I don't think there is a role this actor could not fill, as he proved very well in this drama alone. The character of Vincenzo is a very classic antihero. And as such, I found he could be both lovable and terrifying depending on who he was dealing with at the time. One thing was for sure... you did not want to be on the wrong side of him. Though, I got the impression that the things he did haunted him somewhat, it never stopped him from continuing to deal out the punishment he felt due. Despite being a member of the mafia, Vincenzo does have a moral code... and as he uncovers the horrible deeds of Babel Group, he becomes the means of dealing justice. Not always in a legal way. Often times in a way that is quite fearful. Do I think his character goes too far at times? Absolutely. But, I guess that is what makes him an antihero.
Hong Cha Young
Hong Cha Young was played by the beautiful actress Jeon Yeo Bin. What surprised me most about her character was her incredible quirkiness. She was a weirdo. Lol! But, it made her extremely likeable. I give this actress props as she really had to put any self consciousness aside to play this role. Their personalities seemed so vastly different at first, that I really wasn't sure how this relationship was going to work... but somehow it did. And was believable. This was my first time seeing this actress in a drama, and I quite enjoyed her acting. She is a very beautiful lady and I loved how she made the strangeness of Cha Young suit her. The character herself, is a very strong person. Stubborn, and generally unafraid, she dives head first into things that would scare most people. She turns out to be the perfect match and partner for Vincenzo. Though, I think she finds his methods sometimes too severe, she has a strange understanding of it, and him, as well. This role gave her a decent stretch as an actress, and I felt she rose to the challenge well. I will look forward to seeing more of her in the future.
Jang Jun Woo
Jang Jun Woo was played by the incredible actor Ok Taec Yeon. Though this drama was full of dynamic characters, I feel this role by far was the most dynamic and difficult role to play. If we had to give an award for the best actor in the drama, we would have to give it to Ok Taec Yeon. Obviously, he wasn't my favorite character. He was terrifying. But, as far as acting goes... wow. This guy knocked it out of the park. Now, though I think the majority of what I will say here is known pretty early on, I will give a spoiler alert for those who may not catch on as early. I don't want to ruin it for anyone.
*SPOILER ALERT*
This actor had such an extreme variety of emotions to portray and he was so convincing in his role that I honestly wondered if I would be afraid of this guy if I met him in real life. Lol! Some serious props to this actor!
Vincenzo Cassano and Hong Cha Young
Surprising to us was the fact that there was actually very little romance in this drama. Yes, there was romance, but it took a very back seat to the rest of what was going on. So, if you are looking for a drama heavy in the romance area, this is not for you. Here and there we have a few glimpses that feelings may be developing but neither of the main characters really act on it for the most part. Generally, the two had a great comradery. It was almost more a close friend/ best friend type relationship. Thankfully, the friend chemistry was strong with these two. They had fun together and dealt with the hardships together.
Support Characters
There were soooooo many side characters with very particular roles in this drama that we could not list them all and aren't even going to try. Lets just say that there are going to be a lot of people that you are going to fall in love with. However, among these were quite a few familiar faces to me and so I will mention these actors and actresses names. Maybe you will also recognize them? I will list them in credited order plus the other dramas I have seen them in: Kim Yeo Jin (Meow, the Secret Boy; Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung), Jo Han Chul (Memorist; 100 Days My Prince; Healer; Juror 8), Kwak Dong Yeon (My ID is Gangnam Beauty), Choi Young Joon (Flower of Evil), Choi Deok Moon (Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung; He is Psychometric; Are You Human Too?), Kim Yoon Hye (My Sassy Girl), Lee Hang Na (Strongest Deliveryman), Yoo Jae Myung (Strong Woman Do Bong Soon; Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth; Good Doctor). I will stop there for now.
Conclusion
To sum up... yes, there are some flaws in this, but I don't think it was meant to be perfect or entirely plausible. I saw some negative comments due to the unrealistic-ness, etc... but I don't think that was the intent of the drama. If you go into to it realizing this, maybe it would be better. Honestly, I enjoyed it. I really did. I laughed a lot... did get a little overwhelmed by the violence at times. I questioned Vincenzo, and loved him at the same time. It is no wonder this got such high ratings. I would definitely recommend, with the warning that if you do not handle blood and violence well, please be cautious going in. There is a lot of it. A lot.
Awards Won
(Please note: Some nominations/awards may be still pending for this new release)
Vincenzo - 2021 - Drama of the Year (Brand of the Year Awards); Top Excellence Korean Drama (Seoul International Drama Awards); Special Award for Foreign Drama (Tokyo Drama Awards 2021); Best Drama Series (26th Asian Television Awards)
Park Jae Bum - 2021 - Presidential Commendation (Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards)
Kim Hee Won - 2021 - Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Commendation (Korea Content Awards 2021)
Song Joong Ki - 2021 - Actor of the Year (Brand of the Year Awards); Top Excellence Korean Actor (Seoul International Drama Awards)
Jeon Yeo Bin - 2021 - Best Artist Award (Asia Artist Awards 2021)
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