Crazy Rich Asians: Film Review
Crazy Rich Asians has been killing it over in the US and the hype about it has been insane, so naturally I was very excited to check it out. The annoying gap between the US and UK made my anticipation even higher and it truly didn’t disappoint.
Constance Wu stars as Rachel, a Chinese girl born and raised in New York, where she dates her Chinese boyfriend Nick Young (Henry Golding), who spent most of his childhood in England. They’ve been together for a year and it turns out Nick has been hiding a big secret – he’s from a crazy wealthy family and is a celebrity at home. He invites her to Singapore to meet his family and attend his best friend’s wedding, but she faces an uphill battle for approval with his mother (Michelle Yeoh), who thinks Rachel isn’t good enough for the privileged family.
The thing most talked about with Crazy Rich Asians is how it is the first major studio film to feature a majority Asian cast since The Joy Luck Club in 1993. That’s a wild statistic and it makes no sense to me. The film’s US takings have already proved people want to see these kinds of stories, and hopefully, now we will see loads more. I understand the importance and significance of the film, but that’s not the only reason people are supporting it – it’s because it’s the first genuinely great romantic comedy we’ve had in ages.
The leads are supported by a top-tier cast including Gemma Chan, Ken Jeong and my favourite, Awkwafina. She is glorious! This proves her comedic talents were truly wasted in Ocean’s 8. She never got her moment to shine, whereas she steals every scene and generates the most laughs here. She was wonderful and my face lit up whenever I saw her onscreen. She was closely matched by Oliver (Nico Santos), the camp, fabulous and bitchy member of the family.
It may be largely a comedy, but there are a lot of deep, emotional moments too, a couple of which brought a tear to my eye. You can’t help but love and identify with Rachel as the outsider trying to fit in and being told she’s not good enough. Wu was fantastic and I felt for her so much. Golding, who is better known as a TV presenter, didn’t give me all the feelings like Wu but he was sweet and very nice to look at. Yeoh and Tan Kheng Hua as Rachel’s mum also get meaty parts to play, and Chan gets an emotional subplot of her own. It was nice to see so many fleshed-out characters in one film.
Crazy Rich Asians is such a feel-good movie. The cast looked like they had so much fun and that was infectious. It looked incredible, I enjoyed the soundtrack, and I want to see it again.
In cinemas Friday 14th September