Crazy Rich Asians - Movie Review
Darren Lang
Darren Lang
Crazy Rich Asians has blown up in the United States! Already it has already grossed over one hundred million dollars and has been number one at the box office three weeks in a row. Unlike so many other hits at the box office however, this one has seemed to have won over the critics, garnering a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes (meaning 93% of the critics who saw it liked it). As you can imagine upon hearing all this I became incredibly excited to watch this film, and having walked out the theatre I could not help but feel just a little bit disappointed.
The plot centers on Rachel Chu (Constance Wu, who I must add is great in the show Fresh Off the Boat) and her boyfriend Nick Young (played by Henry Golding). After having dated each other for over a year, Nick decides it is finally time for her to meet his family, who all live in Singapore. Pretty soon, after getting to ride first class on a plane to the surprise Rachel, they arrive at the destination and it is then that Rachel realizes that Nick’s family is not just rich, but “crazy rich”. The plot then turns into a sort of “meet the parents” type of story, where Rachel has to win over Nick’s family despite their obvious class difference.
Before I get into the flaws, I first have to say there are some scenes in this movie that I absolutely love! Scenes that work so perfectly that on their own that I felt as if the movie had taken a 180 and I was watching something truly amazing. One of these perfect scenes is of a wedding that comes at around the three-quarters mark in this film. I can go on and on explaining why this scene works on so many different levels, but I do not want to exhaust you so I will try to be brief. What I felt worked so well in this scene was how it had a high spectacle, but yet at the same time it felt personal and truly romantic. The way it is shot, by going from specific aspect to specific aspect, is able to evoke a true feeling of family and community and reinstates the fact that marriage is truly something special no matter what culture it is involved with. The ending is another part of which I felt was perfect. I will not go into too many details, but I felt it was able to convey the emotions of the previous wedding scene, this time without any spectacle. “I cried.”, states Sean Bruce when speaking of this film.
I also loved the side characters of this film. So many of them stick out in just the right way, so much that I felt if only one of them had been removed the movie would not have been the same.
I do however feel that this movie has a few flaws that hinder it from becoming great. One of which is the main characters. They seemed too perfect. I get that this is based on a book and it might have been possible that they did not want to deviate too far from the set personalities, but the way it came across in this film is just bland. It is especially evident with Nick, who seems to lack any character flaws. He is attractive, smart, well spoken, agreeable, nice and seems more of a fantasy than a real character. There was one part about him that I felt could have fixed this problem if they only had expressed it more. That was his need to please his family. If they had expressed it more as a serious character flaw that hinders his relationship and his composure as a all around great guy it would have made him a much more interesting character of whom had something to overcome. As it stands this aspect appears ever so often and is rarely evident in his character. Rachel is kind of similar in the fact that she seems more fantasy than real, but by having her patronized and go through many difficulties in order to fit in with Nick’s family, it made her just a bit more easy to root for. I also had problems with an affair subplot having to do with tow of the side characters. Whenever they tried to go for the emotions with these scenes, I felt myself not caring. It has to do with the execution of these scenes and how we are not given enough time to truly sympathize with these characters. I do however understand the importance of a subplot like this, by showing a relationship similar to that of Rachel’s and Nick’s not working. If done well I felt it could have given a sort of anxiety to the relationship.
Despite some of the flaws I felt this film had, I still found myself enjoying it. I do understand its appeal as being a sort of escapist film. I feel that those possibly going through their own problems can watch this and forget about them, getting lost in the production values and the extravagant lifestyle of these characters. I am glad this film has been such a success and I sincerely hope that this opens the door to many minorities hoping to go into the industry. “I hope kids can see this who are minorities and say, hey maybe I can do that.”, states Sean Bruce.
The plot centers on Rachel Chu (Constance Wu, who I must add is great in the show Fresh Off the Boat) and her boyfriend Nick Young (played by Henry Golding). After having dated each other for over a year, Nick decides it is finally time for her to meet his family, who all live in Singapore. Pretty soon, after getting to ride first class on a plane to the surprise Rachel, they arrive at the destination and it is then that Rachel realizes that Nick’s family is not just rich, but “crazy rich”. The plot then turns into a sort of “meet the parents” type of story, where Rachel has to win over Nick’s family despite their obvious class difference.
Before I get into the flaws, I first have to say there are some scenes in this movie that I absolutely love! Scenes that work so perfectly that on their own that I felt as if the movie had taken a 180 and I was watching something truly amazing. One of these perfect scenes is of a wedding that comes at around the three-quarters mark in this film. I can go on and on explaining why this scene works on so many different levels, but I do not want to exhaust you so I will try to be brief. What I felt worked so well in this scene was how it had a high spectacle, but yet at the same time it felt personal and truly romantic. The way it is shot, by going from specific aspect to specific aspect, is able to evoke a true feeling of family and community and reinstates the fact that marriage is truly something special no matter what culture it is involved with. The ending is another part of which I felt was perfect. I will not go into too many details, but I felt it was able to convey the emotions of the previous wedding scene, this time without any spectacle. “I cried.”, states Sean Bruce when speaking of this film.
I also loved the side characters of this film. So many of them stick out in just the right way, so much that I felt if only one of them had been removed the movie would not have been the same.
I do however feel that this movie has a few flaws that hinder it from becoming great. One of which is the main characters. They seemed too perfect. I get that this is based on a book and it might have been possible that they did not want to deviate too far from the set personalities, but the way it came across in this film is just bland. It is especially evident with Nick, who seems to lack any character flaws. He is attractive, smart, well spoken, agreeable, nice and seems more of a fantasy than a real character. There was one part about him that I felt could have fixed this problem if they only had expressed it more. That was his need to please his family. If they had expressed it more as a serious character flaw that hinders his relationship and his composure as a all around great guy it would have made him a much more interesting character of whom had something to overcome. As it stands this aspect appears ever so often and is rarely evident in his character. Rachel is kind of similar in the fact that she seems more fantasy than real, but by having her patronized and go through many difficulties in order to fit in with Nick’s family, it made her just a bit more easy to root for. I also had problems with an affair subplot having to do with tow of the side characters. Whenever they tried to go for the emotions with these scenes, I felt myself not caring. It has to do with the execution of these scenes and how we are not given enough time to truly sympathize with these characters. I do however understand the importance of a subplot like this, by showing a relationship similar to that of Rachel’s and Nick’s not working. If done well I felt it could have given a sort of anxiety to the relationship.
Despite some of the flaws I felt this film had, I still found myself enjoying it. I do understand its appeal as being a sort of escapist film. I feel that those possibly going through their own problems can watch this and forget about them, getting lost in the production values and the extravagant lifestyle of these characters. I am glad this film has been such a success and I sincerely hope that this opens the door to many minorities hoping to go into the industry. “I hope kids can see this who are minorities and say, hey maybe I can do that.”, states Sean Bruce.