Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
…………………………………………………
Crazy Rich Asians Movie Review
Crazy Rich Asians is a 2018 romantic comedy film directed by Jon M. Chu and starring Constance Wu, Henry Golding and Michelle Yeoh. It’s a frustratingly mediocre flick.
………………………………………………….
“They’re so posh and snobby, it’s snoshy!“
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
Much has been said about the “importance” of this film and yes, I used punctuation marks because the movie is not groundbreaking and it’s certainly not good, let alone great. Just because you make an entire movie composed of Asian-Americans does not guarantee your movie is great. Quite the contrary. It makes me very angry that this type of lazy filmmaking is praised for being “great” and “important” just because of political correctness when in reality there are so many infinitely better Asian as well as American romantic movies than this one.
It’s another highly clichéd tale of a poor girl who meets her future husband’s incredibly rich family and trouble ensues because his family and especially his mother do not support their union. Yes, not only is that premise so awfully familiar, but the execution is even worse. Every single plot point and I literally mean every single beat is easily predictable and expected that it made for such a boring, lifeless watch for me. I am okay with a familiar premise, but I am not okay with horribly lazy execution and I couldn’t forgive them for that.
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
Let’s talk about the actors. Constance Wu is definitely good in the role of Rachel, but the character is simply put dull and typical that I was never interested in her story at all. And the movie entirely fails as a romance because it’s so pedestrian, dull and honestly bland that I was never invested in this pair. But I do commend Henry Golding for making his character somewhat work despite the many awful lines of corny dialogue that he got. His good looks and charisma certainly should make him an upcoming star in Hollywood.
Astrid and Michael’s infidelity subplot was totally unnecessary and the most tedious part of the movie undoubtedly. Lisa Lu is good as the grandmother and Michelle Yeoh absolutely stole the show in a very thankless role. She showed her greatness once again by giving the film’s best, most memorable acting performances.
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
But Awkwafina entirely stole the show in terms of the humor. The movie is mostly rather uninspired in comedy terms, but she is so endearing, geeky and constantly amusing with some great lines that she’s the only bright, fun part of an otherwise humorless picture. This and her turn in ‘Ocean’s 8’ should make her a talent to look out for in the future.
Jon Chu’s direction of Crazy Rich Asians is very weak, but the soundtrack is excellent and it fits the action on screen quite well. The photography is also terrific and the movie obviously presents the viewers with quite a lot of lush imagery of Singapore and great shots that depict the rich lifestyle of this family well. But there lies another problem – the movie deals with rich people alone and it thus was a very unlikable cinematic experience for me as I cannot possibly relate to these spoiled, honestly even terrible human beings that the film’s almost entire lack of more relatable personalities made it a particularly difficult watch.
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
Crazy Rich Asians is put plain and simple an immensely annoying viewing experience. Now when speaking in more detail, it’s a film that deals with extremely rich, mostly terrible people that made the movie especially difficult to relate to and sympathize with its characters who are for the most part sheer stereotypes. The acting is definitely strong with Michelle Yeoh giving a powerful performance in a very thankless role, Henry Golding being quite charismatic and managing to pull off his awfully corny lines somewhat successfully and Awkwafina stealing the show comedy-wise with numerous amusing lines of dialogue. Though pretty to look at, its story is not only immensely clichéd, but every single plot beat was predictable and safe which made for a very dull watch. This is not an important or great movie. It’s unimportant and furiously mediocre. It’s a perfect example of Hollywood’s PC tendencies and representation politics which unfortunately take center stage in front of good, quality storytelling. Crazy Rich Asians is not only frustrating in that regard, but it’s also another firm proof of the utter incompetence of the romantic comedy genre which either needs to change (and change quickly) or simply die off, never to be witnessed again.
