The following review contains minor spoilers.
According to IMDB, Crazy Rich Asians is one of the few western-produced films with an extensive Asian cast. The others to come before it were Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, Revenge of the Green Dragons, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, Memoirs of a Geisha, Better Luck Tomorrow, and The Joy Luck Club. This is an important movie, especially considering it's not a kung fu movie, and that's a reason why I was interested in seeing Crazy Rich Asians. I was curious to see how Asian culture would be portrayed in a romantic comedy setting. While I've never been a huge fan of romantic comedies, there have been some that have wowed me, like The Big Sick and The Princess Bride (Yes, it is a romantic comedy). Plus, Crazy Rich Asians has been getting fantastic reviews, currently sitting at a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an 85% user average. And after watching the movie, I have to say... I have very unpopular opinions about this movie.
Before I get into the review, I want you to remember a few things. One, I realize this film was not made for me. I am not within the demographic for this movie. However, that doesn't make this movie free from criticism. The reason I didn't like this film is not because I am male. Two, if you liked this movie, that's awesome. You're not alone. This is my own personal opinion. And three, I understand that this is a very important moment in modern culture. But like I said, that doesn't mean it's free from criticisms. Every movie deserves to be looked at critically. With all that said, it's time to sign my death warrant.
Crazy Rich Asians follows Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), a college professor in New York. She's dating Nick Young (Henry Golding), who asks her to visit his family in Singapore for his best friend's wedding. She goes with him, realizing along the way that his family is rich. Like... crazy rich. Due to their way of thinking, and due to the fact that Nick was an eligible bachelor, people quickly grow jealous of her, start judging her, and try to do everything in their power to sabotage their relationship. Will they get in-between the two? Will true love prevail? Is this movie as predictable as it sounds? Yes. Yes indeed.
This movie is as predictable and cliche as it gets. Right from the start, it is easy to tell exactly where the story is going. The movie has no surprises. It doesn't help that Crazy Rich Asians uses many tropes that are used to death in better movies. We have a grand wedding, petty conflict between families, the metaphorical fish out of water, the character who is stuck in their own ways to believe in "true love," the quirky comedic relief, the gay character whose personality trait is "flamboyant," the "comedic" musical score that adds nothing to the comedy (if you've seen any cheesy romantic comedy, you know what I'm talking about), a fashion montage, impromptu dancing, females gleefully screaming in groups, and my personal favorite, a character running after their true love in the airport and catching up to them before the plane takes off. Yes, they do that outdated 90s cliche. I'm sure there are more, but those were the ones that I could think of at the top of my head.
Normally, I'm fine with cliches and predictability. It's how those elements are used in the script when it starts to bug me. The script for this film bugged me. It's incredibly shallow to the point of being annoying, the jokes were rarely funny, and the emotional moments felt forced. Nothing about this movie seemed genuine whatsoever. These were some of the most surface level character relationships I have seen in a while. It didn't help that I found most of the characters annoying and fake. The male and female lead are fine, as well as a few of the side characters, but for the most part, I couldn't stand them.
With all that said, I acknowledge that this movie is not without its merits. For example, I thought the performances were pretty good for the most part. They had great inflections, expressions, and did great at making the scenes feel lively. They also managed to have great chemistry with each other. I could tell they were having fun with each other onscreen. Even if I didn't enjoy the movie, I knew that the cast enjoyed making it.
The best part of this movie is, without question, the production design. The sets look gorgeous. The architecture is grand and beautiful, and the colors that are used make a lot of the scenes pop. As a result, my favorite parts of the movie were establishing shots because I got to see more of Singapore. The cinematography captures the locations wonderfully, and the costumes the characters wear are fantastic. Plus, the scenes involving the preparation of food made my mouth water. For the most part, this is an aesthetically pleasing movie.
The part of the visual presentation that let me down was the editing. The editing was bad. There are multiple scenes where shots are stitched together in a way where you can tell that there were multiple takes. For example, one shot will have a character's hand running through their hair, when it will cut to the next shot in which that character's hand is down. Or maybe a character's head will be slightly turned as their speaking, and then cut to the next shot where the character is still talking, but has their head up straight. I know, this a very nitpicky thing to complain about, but there was a lot of it in the movie, and it was distracting. And yes, these type of inconsistencies happen in every movie, but in Crazy Rich Asians, they happened a lot. Plus, there's this sequence at the end that sets up a quirky editing style. There's a scene involving a picture being mass spread around the world, and it's edited together in a fun and clever way. It reminded me of something an Edgar Wright movie would do. However, that is the only instance anything like that happens in the movie, resulting in the scene feeling tonally out of place.
For the final addition of my list of complaints, there's a side plot involving an affair that felt completely unnecessary. Looking back on it, if they cut that storyline out, the movie would be exactly the same for the most part. It didn't help that the scenes involving the B-plot contained the weakest acting and dramatic moments of the entire film. It made for some unneeded padding. On that note, why is this movie 2 hours long? That's way too long. If they cut a solid 15-20 minutes off, then I think it would've been easier to deal with.
I know I'm in the minority, but I did not like Crazy Rich Asians. I found it to be boring, unfunny, annoying, and cheesy. It felt like a high budget Hallmark movie. Now, that's not to say that you won't feel the same. If you like this movie, then that's great. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Just because this movie did nothing for me doesn't mean the same will apply to you. With that said, Crazy Rich Asians disappointed me, and I have absolutely no intention on returning to it.
Score: 4/10 (Mediocre)
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