[Review] Crazy Rich Asians (6.5/10)

Title - Crazy Rich Asians
Studio - Warner Bros. Pictures
Starring - Constance Wu, Michelle Yeoh, Henry Golding, Ken Jeong, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina
Writer - Peter Chiarelli, Adele Lim
Director - John M. Chu
Release - 17 August 2018

This would easily be the best Jon M. Chu movie, but that's really not saying much. I still haven't forgiven him for G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

I honestly did not want to see this movie after watching the first trailer because it looked really weak with no hook other than just to watch how rich and extravagant Asians can be. I was even calling it "Fifty Shades Of Asians" because it was sounding more and more like how Fifty Shades Of Grey was made. (Also there was a very unnecessary scene of a male torso in the shower.)

And with the overwhelming positive reviews coming in, I thought, of course the reviews from Hollywood had to be positive in order to fit into this political hotbed.

But our host from The Wayang Crew decided to go see it himself and came back also with rave reviews. That's when I decided to buy a ticket for myself. And I guess for me to give it this score is also a win for the movie.

With a big Hollywood budget behind it, Singapore never looked this good onscreen. I also really appreciated the representation of the culture in Singapore, particularly the scene at the hawker stalls with Golding's impressive spoken phrases of Malay and Hokkien.

Michelle Yeoh and Wu gave incredible performances. Wu has won me over as a very capable actress to pull off what she did here, and Yeoh is still the pro. Awkwafina, Nico Santos and Ronny Chieng were also surprising standouts.

However, Ken Jeong was the most out of place. There is no way to sell anyone that he is a Singaporean who "studied in the States". His role was so small that he could have easily been replaced by perhaps a Singaporean veteran.

And why was he was the only middle aged man in the entire movie? Where are the other uncles?

I also did not care for Gemma Chan's subplot which was not only predictable but also came without subtlety.

By the middle of the movie I had no idea where the direction of the story was taking. The transitions between subplots were very awkward and, while the shots looked beautiful, but Chu sometimes looked like he did not know how to best edit scenes together.

However, my biggest problem with this was the soundtrack. Almost every song chosen was the worst representation of Chinese music with perhaps one or two exceptions.

If this was a movie to represent Asians or Chinese in particular, why pick the Chinese renditions of an original English song? Why not get original and brilliant Chinese songs? Jacky Cheung and A-Mei's discography alone would have been sufficient.

If this was a movie to represent Asia or Singapore in particular, why pick Kina Grannis - an Asian American - to perform the best song in the whole movie which was the wedding entrance scene? Why not get a Singaporean to do a same or similar cover of the song which would have been equally great?

I wouldn't say I regretted purchasing a ticket for this movie. It was an okay experience made better by the two leading actresses.