Crazy Rich Asians

It's been a while since I've reviewed a new release, and I'm glad to be back for this one. The main reason I haven't been able to review is that of Moviepass not allowing me to see new movies anymore and only really have two movies available to watch at random times I can't go. So I canceled that. I was actually really excited about this movie for some reason though. It seems like an important movie for Hollywood and big-budget films in general. An all Asian cast in a movie that centers around a Chinese family and it's a romantic comedy too. I guess in the past, Hollywood hasn't done a good job at putting Asian people in leading roles like this, let alone cast a whole romantic movie with them. This alone makes the movie a good step for big budget movies like this and it's good to see things moving forward like this. Of course, that alone doesn't mean that the movie was good or not, that depends on the execution. Luckily, the execution was almost flawless.

Crazy Rich Asians is a great romantic comedy because it gets several things right. Of course, the most important thing is the main couple and what kind of chemistry they have. The two leads, Constance Wu and Henry Golding, have great chemistry and are the kind of couple you root for throughout the movie. The story follows both of them as they have been going out for over a year, and Nick Young (Golding) wants to take Rachel Chu (Wu) to Singapore to meet his family and attend his best friend's wedding. What Rachel doesn't know is that Nick Young's family are the richest and most powerful family in Singapore and are basically royalty. This worries Rachel even though she's found great success in her life as an economics professor, she's not sure how she will measure up to the Young family. It's also shown very early in the movie that Nick's mom is a very very traditional Chinese woman. But, of course, that's just the beginning of Rachel's problems.

This was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me, I was not expecting to love this movie as much as I did. The great characters and performances, the great visuals, the funny and charming writing and the unique atmosphere really captured my attention for the entire run-time. I found myself laughing a lot and really caring about what happens to the lead characters. All the locations visited in Singapore look amazing, as I'm sure they do in real life and help you understand just how rich the Young family really is. Mix that with the use of Chinese culture in story and visuals and you get a really unique setting for this kind of movie.

While there are some romantic comedy tropes in this movie, it's all mostly done very well. There are a few things here and there that didn't feel entirely necessary to the story (no spoilers), but it's very very little and doesn't take away from the overall quality much. It's all just a good time from start to finish with some great laughs and good emotional moments. The title of the movie doesn't lie and it's very appropriate, it's definitely worth a watch in theatres. One of the best romantic comedies I've had the pleasure of watching in quite some time. Hopefully, this opens the door for more diversity in Hollywood and different takes on classic genres.

Overall Grade: A-