Crazy Rich Asians (2018) Movie Review

CRAZY RICH ASIANS (2018) MOVIE REVIEW

In 2013, author Kevin Kwan released a novel that would launch the author into worldwide recognition. Titled Crazy Rich Asians, the novel was praised for its satirical outlook on contemporary Asia and its depiction of the differences between upper and lower class people. This would be enough to warrant the series two sequels, both of which were well received. Now five years later, director Jon M. Chu is given the opportunity to bring the highly anticipated book to film adaptation to life. Now its time to find out whether said adaptation is just as critically acclaimed as its novel counterpart.

Following the same plot as the novel, Crazy Rich Asians revolves around economics professor Rachel Chu and Nicholas Young who, completely unbeknownst to Rachel, belongs to one of Singapore’s wealthiest and most respected families. Confident that his family will approve of girlfriend Rachel, Nick arranges for her to meet his family in Singapore all while a family wedding is taking place. Now while I haven’t read the series of books myself, I have heard from numerous sources that they are quite entertaining and are best described as “guilty pleasures”. Thankfully this is one movie you don’t have to have alot of backstory to understand as, not knocking the book, but it is a simple premise. Man and woman visiting one halve’s family and it doesn’t start off well and shenanigans ensue. Despite having a plotline as common as the cold, Jon Chu does a great job at pacing the film, ensuring that the story maintains a steady speed and making sure the movie never feels sluggish and boring to the audience. 

Performance wise, there isn’t too much I can fault in this sense. No one performance stood out to me as scene stealing. All the characters, while different in their personality and attributes, no single actor or actress really owned their role and reached for that all important brass ring. As for the writing, most of the jokes seemed to work in the film’s favour. Now there were some groaners sprinkled here and there but for the most part, nearly every joke resulted in at least a chuckle. Some of these were aided by the characters exclaiming the joke, particularly those jokes involving Awkwafina and Ken Jeong, our main comic reliefs. I said earlier that there were no actors that really stood out to me but if there had to be one, it would have to be Awkwafina’s portrayal of Peik Lin Goh. She would often aid Rachel in any predicament she had to overcome and do it all while making the audience laugh, even someone as curmudgeon as myself. 

All in all, I had a good time with Crazy Rich Asians. With alot of hype surrounding the release of a film like this, I must say I was pleasantly surprised with what I was given. The movie never seemed to drag and continually made me laugh throughout. Even with a plot that was irritatingly predictable, I can’t fault the film too harshly for it as it is based off a fictional novel. So if you're a fan of the novel or just in need of a romantic fix, then Crazy Rich Asians might just be the film for you. 

OVERALL 

6 / 10