Both a cultural experience and romantic comedy, Crazy Rich Asian is an elegant, charming film that improves upon the source material and boasts a beyond-talented cast. I could wax poetically about how much I enjoyed it, but I think that with a film like this, hopefully paving the way for more like it in the future, it’s important to look at reviews from Asian and Asian-American film critics.
Emily Yoshida from Vulture: “Crazy Rich Asians is, at its heart, a fish-out-of-water story, and it has a lot more going for it than its literal money shots.”
I mostly had a nice time at CRAZY RICH ASIANS but 800 words is not enough to get into the class/race issues of this being “our” “one and only chance” https://t.co/R73dglchk7
— Emily Yoshida (@emilyyoshida) August 9, 2018
Inkoo Kang from Slate: “Crazy Rich Asians isn’t really about crazy rich Asians anyway, so much as one American who gains a greater appreciation of where she comes from. It’s a great romance, but it’s most powerful as a story of her love with herself.”
I wanted to rewatch CRAZY RICH ASIANS as soon as the credits started rolling. It’s a wonderful romantic comedy with culturally distinct (but universally relatable) stakes. It’s also a moving-as-hell affirmation of Asian American identity. https://t.co/bJwYFtCT3s
— Inkoo Kang (@inkookang) August 9, 2018
Justin Chang from the LA Times: “In a better world, “Crazy Rich Asians” wouldn’t have to prove or represent anything but itself. But here we are. That pressure may at least partly explain the script’s anxious, eager-to-please quality, which feels both touchingly awkward and wholly appropriate to the giddy aspirational fairy tale it’s selling.”
CRAZY RICH ASIANS: Come for the billionaire lifestyle porn; stay for Michelle Yeoh turning a plate of uncooked dumplings into the most wrenching disquisition on parental love, guilt and sacrifice since … hmm, THE JOY LUCK CLUB. Go figure. https://t.co/DN5ynwsCv3
— Justin Chang (@JustinCChang) August 9, 2018
This thread retweeted by Jen Yamato, which shares the experiences of one Asian woman about how she experienced racism at SDCC, but felt such validation watching a film that celebrated her.
It was amazing to watch #CrazyRichAsians with @uhnet, who echoes my feelings in her thread👇I’m glad that the pride and validation of last night has empowered her to call out the racism she experienced last month at Comic-Con ❤️ https://t.co/N4XGHH4MrO
— jen yamato (@jenyamato) August 8, 2018
Stephanie Foo from Vox: “I’m Malaysian, and nobody in my family is a billionaire. We do okay, but the only designer item I’ve gotten from my family is a knockoff Chloé handbag from Petaling Street. Which is why, if Crazy Rich Asians is all about money, it was a little surprising for me to burst into tears 10 minutes into the movie. […] watching Crazy Rich Asians made me wonder what I could have learned about being Asian-American if I’d seen this film when I was 13. How could it have changed my life and what I thought I deserved?”
Brava Stephanie Foo (@imontheradio) for this stellar, heart-full review. #allthefeels “Crazy Rich Asians isn’t about money, it’s about entitlement—and that’s a good thing” https://t.co/dnsF7x3nRc #CrazyRichAsians #entertainment #Hollywood #API
— Michele Kumi Baer (@mkumib) August 8, 2018
Not a review, but co-signing this argument:
If a review compares Crazy Rich Asians to Black Panther, I’m not reading it. I’ll ctrl + F every review
— P-egg tart 🔪🍳 (@asofthowl) August 9, 2018
Crazy Rich Asians is part of a growing trend of seeing inclusion in Hollywood written by, directed by, and starring people of color. The fact that this is the first Asian-American-centered film since Joy Luck Club shows how we have really allowed ourselves to be comfortable with the status quo, even as it excluded others. Well, that time is changing, and Crazy Rich Asians is delivering the fun romantic comedy that is way too many years too late.
(image: Warner Bros.)
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