Crazy Rich Asians Review

Based on a novel by Kevin Kwan Crazy Rich Asians was a huge hit in the United States and the first major Hollywood movie since The Joy Luck Club to feature a predominately Asian cast, quickly becoming a cultural touchstone.

Nick Young (Henry Golding) is the heir to the Young family fortune and the most eligible bachelor in Singapore. But instead of falling for a woman from a similar background Nick invites his American girlfriend Rachel (Constance Wu) to his home city, exposing the young woman to the vicious world of the wealthy East Asian elites.

I went into Crazy Rich Asians pretty much blind – all I knew was it featured a cast of actors from East Asian heritage and it was a hit in America. I was surprised to hear many of the characters speak with English accents because I assumed the film was set in America. It shows that I shouldn’t judge a film by its cover.

Crazy Rich Asians does traverse being culturally unique and being universal to all audiences. The film does play to some stereotypes like My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Bend it Like Beckham and Rich Crazy Asians did for Asian films as those films did for Greek and Indian families. Crazy Rich Asians examines issues like Rachel being discriminated because of her nationality and class. As her mother put it Rachel may look Chinese and speak Chinese but the Young family will see her as a foreigner and her friend says she is seen as a Banana – yellow on the outside, white on the inside. There are little touches like Asian families being close-knit – that there is a respect for the elders – people call family friends aunty and there is an empathises on honour, image, and respect.

There is also universality with Crazy Rich Asians‘ story and themes – using ideas as old as storytelling itself. It is a story of star-crossed lovers, discrimination, classism and family status which means people have to marry the right people. It’s a story that could be transferred to Europe, America or India, and its basic core would be the same. Crazy Rich Asians follows a standard movie wedding storyline where a younger family member brings a partner that the clan would disapprove of – Crazy Rich Asians is able to use this formula to tell a good story that is relatable with complex characters.

Rachel is the heart of the story – she is the audience surrogate to his extravagate world and she’s American. She has to win over Nick’s strong mother, Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh) and face off against Nick’s family and friends who see her as nothing but a gold digger. Rachel is the window into this world and explores various character dynamics and storylines. There is a lot going on and there is tension just below the surface. The family matriarch (Lisa Lu) makes snide comments towards her daughter-in-law and Michael Teo (Pierre Png) is looked down upon because of his lowly origins. This happens despite Eleanor, Michael and Rachel being high achievers to anyone else’s standards.

Crazy Rich Asians has a great cast made up of actors from America, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Britain and many play to their strengths. Michelle Yeoh is a dominating figure and Humans fans will be pleased with Gemma Chan who is calm and regal but clearly has a lot going on in her head behind her facade. Constance Wu was a solid all-rounder, able to handle the dramatic moments and had comedic timing. The cast does what they are asked to – some characters like Rachel, Nick, and Astrid (Chan) are grounded whilst others like Goh Peik Lin (Awkwafina), Alistair (Remy Hill) and Kitty Pong (Fiona Xie) are more exaggerated.

Director Jon M. Chu has had a less than impressive career – his credits include two Step-Up films – G.I. Joe Retaliation and the maligned Jem and the Holograms. Crazy Rich Asians is easily his best film and he does a great job at mixing the comedy and the drama. The humour within the film is mixed from witty lines and believable situations to more outrageous and over the top. Trying to put these different type of comedic styles would be jarring in most films but Chu and his team were able to blend them together because the outlandish humour comes from people who have extraordinary wealth and little-to-no filter.

Crazy Rich Asians is unique for a Hollywood film set in Singapore – that city is often ignored for other East and South-East Asians cities like Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Bangkok. The film does act as a nice showcase for the city and the surrounding areas.

Crazy Rich Asians walks a number of tightropes and does not fall off any of them. It is culturally unique and has mainstream appeal, it is dramatic and comedic and able to show different types of comedy.